Bug Bites & Bees Stings: A Parent's Guide to Summer
July 2004 — If you think summer means picnics and poison ivy, barbecues and bee stings, baseball and bug bites, you must be a parent.
For all the fun it represents to kids, summer is full of hazards for them, too. Thousands of children suffer minor injuries each year, many during the summer. Here are some tips for treating some of the most common small problems — and for recognizing when urgent care is needed.
Bug Bites
PROBLEM
Bites and stings from ants, mosquitoes, flies, wasps, bees and hornets.
PREVENTION
Teach your kids to avoid bees and bugs. Wear long sleeves and long pants and skip perfume, deodorant and bright clothes, which attract bugs. Cover exposed skin with a thin film of insect repellent, but do not use one containing DEET (diethyltoluamide) on children.
TREATMENT
Gently remove the stinger by scraping it with a dull-edged object, such as a credit card. Apply a cold cloth or ice pack for a few minutes. Wash the area two or three times a day until the skin heals. Do not pop blisters. If the child is stung in the mouth — bees like to crawl inside soda and juice cans — seek immediate medical attention. Seek medical care if symptoms of an allergic reaction appear. Symptoms include nausea, low-grade fever, difficulty breathing and swelling of the mouth and/or throat.
Poison Ivy & Poison Oak
PROBLEM
Exposure to the oily resin of the poison ivy plant or poison oak leaves causes an allergic reaction.
PREVENTION
Know what the plants look like and avoid them. When walking in overgrown areas, cover areas of the body that may brush against foliage. Do not burn the plant; the smoke can cause a rash in the respiratory system.
TREATMENT
A poison ivy rash usually runs its course in a few weeks or less. Clean the skin with soap and water as soon as possible after exposure and discourage scratching or touching the rash. Calamine lotion and topical ointments with hydrocortisone can help. Seek medical care if the child has been exposed to smoke from burning poison ivy, develops breathing problems or if the rash spreads to more than one-quarter of the body, becomes infected or affects the face, lips, eyes or genitals.
Snake Bites
PROBLEM
Six of Florida's 45 snake species are poisonous, and four are found in South Florida: Cottonmouth (also known as a water moccasin), Eastern diamondback rattlesnake, dusky pygmy rattlesnake and Eastern coral snake.
PREVENTION
Teach your child to leave all snakes — poisonous or not — alone. Avoid or be alert in areas where snakes live, such as waterways, banks of waterways, pools, swamps, thickets and sandy or scrubby areas.
TREATMENT
A bite from a poisonous snake should always be treated as a medical emergency, especially with young children. Symptoms include blurred vision, convulsions, diarrhea, dizziness, heavy sweating, fainting, thirst, nausea, vomiting, numbness, rapid pulse and skin discoloration. With proper treatment, most snakebites will not have serious or long-lasting effects; untreated, they can cause serious tissue damage around the bite or even death. If your child is bitten and you cannot identify the snake, assume it was poisonous.
DO NOT apply a tourniquet, cut into the bite, try to suck out the venom, give the victim anything by mouth except with a doctor's orders or raise the wound above the level of the victim's heart.
DO seek medical help immediately.
Spider Bite
PROBLEM
Most spiders are not a serious health threat, but black widow spiders deserve mention.
PREVENTION
Teach your child to stay away from spiders in general. Black widows have a distinctive red or orange hourglass-shaped marking on their undersides.
TREATMENT
Symptoms of a black-widow bite include pain, cramping and rigidity in the shoulders, back, chest or abdomen. More serious symptoms include nausea, vomiting, headache and anxiety. To treat, clean the bite with soap and water, apply a cool compress to the site and keep the affected area elevated. Children younger than 5 — and anyone with severe symptoms — should seek medical care.
Tick Bites
PROBLEM
Tick bites can cause Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and other ailments.
PREVENTION
Dress your child in light-colored clothes (ticks are dark and easier to find on light fabric); apply insect repellent, especially around the feet and lower legs; and check the child for ticks.
TREATMENT
Remove the tick carefully. Although tick bites don't always cause symptoms, they may cause weakness, uncoordinated movement, swelling, breathing difficulty and sleep apnea. Symptoms of Lyme disease may not appear until months or years later. They include joint inflammation and neurological symptoms. Rocky Mountain spotted fever usually appears as fever, chills, headache, rash and muscle pain two days to two weeks after the bite. Left untreated, the disease can lead to serious complications.
Minor injuries can be treated at the Memorial Hospital Pembroke Urgent Care Center at 801 South Douglas Road in Pembroke Pines. The Center, which is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, provides medical care for minor injuries and illnesses. A convenient alternative to hospital emergency departments, the Center offers a full range of diagnostic services, including X-ray and lab, and is backed by the comprehensive services of Memorial Healthcare System. It is not intended to be used for life-threatening emergencies or as a substitute for your personal physician. For more information, please call the Memorial Urgent Care Center at (954) 985-1470.