Weird Bug Bites

I just got back from Cabarete a few days ago and now I have noticed that I have these weird hard, itchy, little bumps on my skin. I don't remember being bitten by anything and they are really starting to bother me... so my question is: What the hell are they?

Go to a hospital or your house-physician. Describe exactly
where you stayed, and what happened. You might also ask for
someone with tropical experience, as many practising
physicians lack that outside the tropical region.

Have you any other symptoms? Any information, however
insignificant it might seem, can help in diagnosing...

There is a thread on this board describing something similar,
where local med's have suggested "uric acid". Knowledgeable
board contributors have posted sceptisism, and recommended
a second opinion.

By all means follow the advice above and see your Doctor. My wife was bitten last year and her foot swelled to the point wher she could not get a shoe on and was also uncomfortable. At the insistence of another guest we went to the Playa Dorada Medical Centre where she got EXCELLENT treatment. An ointment for the itch and prednezone for the infection that had started. It did keep her out of the sun for week or so but the infection was gone.

I got some mosquito-type bites when I was in the DR. I heard that once you live there for a while you don't get bothered by bites. Anyone know if this is true?

In my case it's not true.

I stayed for a year and after about three months the mosquitos and jejenes lost all their interest in me. Now when I go back on vacation they feast on "the new blood" again

BTW:
The Scandinavian "mosquitos" (at least Gunnar knows them) prefer some bloodtypes over anothers. Don't know if this is the case in the DR.

Stina

In 1986 when we first started living in the DR, I was bitten by some insect on my ankle. A huge blister developed. The doctor that I consulted explained that my system had not yet become aclimitized to the leaves, insects, etc., that might cause a reaction. He prescribed a salve containing betametasona which proved effective. I still use it when I get as a first step when I get any sort of strange reaction to a bite. However, after living here so many years, I find that I seldom have occasion to use the salve. Whether it is because my system is more aclimitized, or I am less prone to be places where I can get "attacked", I don't know. Probably a little of both. But any time I think that I have an infection, I quickly consult a doctor. In this climate, an infection is not something to be taken lightly.

Sure know my "scandinavian friends". August evening in
"Norrland", you hear them bargaining for the best blood...

Nevertheless - mosquitos search you out by the CO2
in your exhale. Some food might "mask" the CO2, but not
completely. The notation that they don't bother you after a
while, is probably more due to your (possibly sub-conscious)
learning of how to avoid.
After two years and some, they bother me mostly by waking me up
by the sound. Another two years, and I'll probably have a
sub-conscious reflex to wave them off without waking up...

The south coast have a specie that is very small, almost silent,
and painless at "sting-time". You notice it a couple of hours
later. No fun at all...

My best advice: sleep under a mosquito-net, use repellants
otherwise. Pay attention! Don't let that chocolate paper
lay around, if you don't eat all of your food, get it out of
your vicinity quick! Be pedantic about cleanliness, approaching
ridiculus levels - we wet-sweep the house three times a day!

I don't mind some problems, but people who come here for
a few, precious days might want to savvy those days for
something better than the local hospital...

Sounds like you have a case of no seeums. Paint them with clear nail polish the itching should stop in about two or three hours an it [the bites] will wash away the next day. Leave polish on overnite it insure they are all dead. If you do not think it works just paint a fue and leave the rest as comparison. But the sooner you paint the less chance of infection.

What a bunch of goofs!! Not a flame but..

Folks, we are at 19? North Latitude. That means, duh, that we are in the tropics. Which, in turn, means that we have all the nasty flying and biting insects associated with said environment.

So, you must sleep with a mosquito net! You should always use long pants-You never see Dominicans running around in shorts or cut-offs, do you? (Except at the beach) And socks.
Tourists should always use bug repellant and be aware of evening hours and grassy areas...

Excepting when we are at Playa Dorada at our apartment there, we never sleep without a net. True, I only have, like hummm, 38 years of experience, but I have learned a few things....

HB

It might not be bug bites at all. It might be sun poisioning