Mosquito bites and stings

Seriously, for the third year running, they’re just rolling out the raids with those silver pills 👍 🙏

I absolutely loathe mosquitoes!!!!!!!!!!

Jamie Johnson6 said:I wouldn't say I'm the type of person who goes looking for a fight, but I'm certainly not one to back down from a confrontation either.😎 🙂
😬

I’ve already made a mental note to pick up some repellent, hand sanitizer, and plenty of lemons, and now I'm just waiting for them to arrive... though, honestly, I’d much rather find a compromise where they simply decide to change their menu.😳

B vitamins... and some famous beers... grab a drink. 😉 🙂 😵

I just got off the phone with my cousin over in California (specifically in the Malibu area), and she mentioned—just as a side note—that there’s a swarm of these "striped" black and white mosquitoes popping up that she’s never seen before.

Since I remember reading in a scientific journal about these specific mosquitoes—the ones with white spots on dark bodies that carry things like Dengue, Yellow fever, and other nasty stuff—I asked her if she could catch one and describe it to me.

The description she gave matches the Aedes aegypti perfectly: white spots and black and white legs.

Given that this is a known disease vector, seeing this mosquito show up here in the US is, I think, pretty concerning.

Does anyone know which epidemiological agency or local health department in the US or California I should report this sighting to?

My cousin lives near a stagnant pond where mosquitoes seem to breed (they haven't had sheep there for a long time), so I'm wondering if an agency could actually force the local municipality to treat the water or even drain it if it turns out this species really has arrived.

(Of course, I realize that seeing the mosquito doesn't automatically mean the disease is present; if they aren't carrying the virus, there's no danger. But still, these guys seem to have come out of nowhere...)

Okay, so I honestly thought the media was just being dramatic, but then last night, this thing landed right on my leg—specifically the inner thigh (yeah, yeah, I know where it was going, damn it)—and I immediately noticed it was covered in those crazy spots. I managed to swat it with a newspaper and finally killed it.
The problem is, the bite it left behind is swelling up like crazy. It’s turned into this massive 12 cm circle with a purplish-brown center, and it hurts like hell. The whole area is super inflamed.
To make matters worse, I just got bitten on my forearm too (probably by a buddy) and now that one is starting to swell as well.
I’m feeling pretty miserable right now. Both bites are throbbing, and I’m wondering what I should actually do and what kind of treatment they might give me if I head to the ER.
Also, does any of this affect breastfeeding?

Thanks!

Uh... I actually just heard about this for the first time, so I did a little Googling... and I found this:

tiger mosquito
local news outlet

Here’s this too:

Dr. Snježana Nakić-Tošić: In the worst cases, arms or legs might swell up

While the presence of tiger mosquitoes has caused some concern at public health agencies—given they might carry various viruses or parasites—Dr. Snježana Nakić-Tošić suggests that the most significant issue is usually just a severe allergic reaction.
- "About ten patients have come into my practice over the last four months presenting with fairly strong allergic reactions. It mostly affects sensitive individuals, where you might see swelling about 15 centimeters wide around the bite site. If there are multiple bites on an extremity, it can actually cause the whole arm or leg to swell," Dr. Nakić-Tošić explained, noting that this happens in roughly 0.2% to 1% of the population.
Standard treatment ranges from cold compresses and corticosteroids to antihistamines if things get particularly bad.

I had one bite me on the thigh once too. It got pretty nasty and swollen, and the itching was intense, but it all cleared up after a few days....it wasn't actually that big of a deal

Personally, if the reaction is a bit more intense, I find that taking some Claritin helps, though it usually takes a couple of days for the symptoms to fully subside.
I’ve also found relief using ice or those topical creams you see advertised everywhere—things like Kamagel or Benadryl—the ones specifically marketed to soothe skin irritation from bites and similar issues.

Kate Barnes3 said:Okay, so I honestly thought the media was just being dramatic, but then last night, this thing landed right on my leg—specifically the inner thigh (yeah, yeah, I know where it was going, damn it)—and I immediately noticed it was covered in those crazy spots. I managed to swat it with a newspaper and finally killed it.
The problem is, the bite it left behind is swelling up like crazy. It’s turned into this massive 12 cm circle with a purplish-brown center, and it hurts like hell. The whole area is super inflamed.
To make matters worse, I just got bitten on my forearm too (probably by a buddy) and now that one is starting to swell as well.
I’m feeling pretty miserable right now. Both bites are throbbing, and I’m wondering what I should actually do and what kind of treatment they might give me if I head to the ER.
Also, does any of this affect breastfeeding?

Thanks!

Since you're nursing, it's probably best to check with a doctor or a pharmacist about what's safe to take... in the meantime, cold compresses shouldn't hurt...

Give the Flocet 20g herbal gel a shot.
It’s made with chamomile extract, calendula, and an aluminum-acetotartarate solution.
It always does the trick for me—even when I got stung by a wasp once, it cleared everything up in a day.

Let’s not panic just yet!
There are plenty of those tiger mosquitoes around, but they aren't any more dangerous than the regular ones; the main difference is simply that they bite during the day.
The swelling at the bite site is likely just because it was a new type of sting.
If you really want to deal with something troublesome, the tiny little gnats are much worse—their bites can itch for a long time!

Honestly, I used to think it was all just nonsense, but after my daughter got bitten twice now, I’m officially eating my words. It’s definitely not a joke. We’ve already had to hit the ER twice. We're talking a 15 cm diameter, a black dot right in the center, and it looks incredibly inflamed. The swelling is just unreal. She’s tried everything people suggested—creams and whatnot—but nothing really touches it. She even had to get an injection. I mean, she's been bitten by mosquitoes before, but it was never anything serious. This time? She actually ran a fever.
This is the second time it's happened.
Unbelievable.

My five-and-a-half-year-old kid just got bitten by a tiger mosquito, and he's already breaking out in a rash.
Heads up, guys—there’s a massive red patch behind the ear, and it looks swollen. He’s already on antibiotics.
Klavocin? This allergy med is useless. It’s just some ointment or cream that does absolutely nothing. It doesn't even reduce the symptoms, let alone fix them.
It’s getting worse. His doctor told him he was bitten by a tiger mosquito this summer, too.
Mosquitoes, and all those doctors didn't have a clue what they were dealing with. They actually thought it was leukemia.
So, he was stuck in isolation at the infectious disease ward, then spent about ten days sleeping through the entire day. After that...
Some old doctor finally figured out it might be a tiger mosquito. Since you...
Mosquitoes come from Africa or wherever else they crawl out of, so the real question is: what kind of diseases are they actually carrying?
They're spreading. It eventually wore off for him, though.
Mom's swelling hasn't gone down yet. It’s actually getting worse—well, slowly, but it is definitely increasing.
It’s only a few centimeters in diameter now.

Does anyone have any idea what this could be? Are there any known illnesses or specific situations that cause this?
Has anyone dealt with tiger mosquitoes before? They’re causing absolute chaos lately. Does anyone have any actual experience with this?

I'm not entirely sure, but it was likely the County Health Department, maybe out of San Diego (though I wouldn't be surprised if they're based in Sacramento). From what I understand about the issue, it was spotted in the US back in 2005, and nothing too crazy has been recorded since, other than it causing a slightly stronger skin reaction at the bite site compared to our local ones.
But I seem to remember reading that last summer near Savannah in Italy—where they've supposedly been established for years—they managed to spread the Chikungunya virus and trigger a small outbreak of about 160 people.

I live up in Buzet—which is way up north in California, far from the coast—and I got bit by this mosquito the other day... I actually watched the thing eating me before I swatted it, and honestly? I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. Now I'm starting to think I should actually be worried.

Ryan Sanders4 said:I just got off the phone with my cousin over in California (specifically in the Malibu area), and she mentioned—just as a side note—that there’s a swarm of these "striped" black and white mosquitoes popping up that she’s never seen before.

Since I remember reading in a scientific journal about these specific mosquitoes—the ones with white spots on dark bodies that carry things like Dengue, Yellow fever, and other nasty stuff—I asked her if she could catch one and describe it to me.

The description she gave matches the Aedes aegypti perfectly: white spots and black and white legs.

Given that this is a known disease vector, seeing this mosquito show up here in the US is, I think, pretty concerning.

Does anyone know which epidemiological agency or local health department in the US or California I should report this sighting to?

My cousin lives near a stagnant pond where mosquitoes seem to breed (they haven't had sheep there for a long time), so I'm wondering if an agency could actually force the local municipality to treat the water or even drain it if it turns out this species really has arrived.

(Of course, I realize that seeing the mosquito doesn't automatically mean the disease is present; if they aren't carrying the virus, there's no danger. But still, these guys seem to have come out of nowhere...)

The CDC in Washington, D.C. is your best bet—though you could also reach out to the infectious disease specialists at the "Dr. Fran Mihaljević" hospital in Washington, D.C. There’s bound to be people there tracking this stuff, especially since mosquitoes are known to carry Plasmodium (that parasitic protozoan responsible for malaria).

So I did a little digging online, and I'm leaning towards it being Aedes albopictus.
It looks almost identical to the one > mentioned—but this one seems more likely since it's already established in Italy, and we're just right across the water from them...
And honestly, the more I read, the more it seems they carry the exact same diseases...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aedes_albopictus
The map shows it living right there...

I’m originally from California, but seeing those mosquitoes with white spots didn't worry me one bit. Around here, near my neck of the woods, they're everywhere... just constant.

I have to be honest, I’m starting to feel a genuine sense of panic setting in. Even though it's winter, we've already spotted and swatted several large tiger mosquitoes right on our balcony on more than one occasion. We have a small child at home, and frankly, the thought of what this upcoming summer might hold is keeping me up at night. This winter has been unusually mild and rainy, which is exactly the kind of perfect breeding ground these pests love. To make matters worse, it feels nearly impossible to find any coherent, reliable information online regarding how to actually protect ourselves from these little monsters. As a precaution, we’ve been busy draining all the standing water from containers around the house since they clearly love to breed in those conditions.
Does anyone happen to know anything about plants that act as natural repellents, or perhaps some highly effective chemical solutions that actually work...😕😢