Prevention
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Trials show that DEET is best.
But I love the smell of citronella
Treatment
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Creams are useless - most bites get better anyway
so you give the cream the benefit. Remember pharmacists
have a profit motive in selling you something.
Antihistamine tablets taken EARLY have some small effect.
The latest wizz bang anti-histamine will be no more effective than
the older ones, though the older ones tend to be more sedating and mix
less well with alcohol.
Many, many insect bites go on swelling for up to 48 hours
and then start to settle. They can be quite red and hot, and
deciding when an infection is present can be tricky for Drs..
Red lines appearing above the bite is very suggestive of infection,
so too swelling that is going towards the trunk from a limb, rather than
symmetrical swelling around the bite.
Ice can be very soothing and will help a bit with the swelling.
Bites around the mouth and eyes often swell a lot and Drs will tend to prescribe Antibiotics earlier. If in any doubt about swelling around the
mouth or throat interfeering with breathing then go to A&E at once.
In terms of avoiding the potentially malarious mosquitoes in the tropics,
cover up arms and legs, use repellant and sleep under a net. They are most active just before dusk and for an hour or two after dusk - just when people
are enjoying a beer round the fire. Oh, and take anti-malarial properly, importantly for the length of time specified AFTER exposure.
They find you by following your exhaled carbon dioxide from a long way off.. My experience is that they will go for women before men, but I'm not sure
about the research on that.
Re: Insect Bites 
Re: Urgentish question about insect bites 
Linear Mode
