I went to Punta Cana and all I got was a case of skin parasites.

Trainman33

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Dec 11, 2009
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I thought I had read everything there was to know about being safe in the DR but somehow this escaped me. I got bitten by sand flies in the departure check in area of the Punta Cana airport. It is outside and is covered by a tiki hut kind of roof. I was stung by something there and hours later the bites appeared.
The bites were like mosquito bites but twice as bad and left scars and sores.
My MD said it is a case of cutaneous Leishmaniasis but still in the larval stage.
They gave me Pyrithamin cream to treat it.
 

Robert

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Jan 2, 1999
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1,000s of people a week go through Punta Cana airport, it's the busiest in the DR.
This is the first time I have ever heard of someone having issues with sand flies.
 
Jul 4, 2010
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Cutaneous leishmaniasis is very rare in the Dominican Republic, and the few cases reported have occurred in poor rural regions where basic hygiene is lacking, and usually among immunocompromised persons.
 

Trainman33

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Dec 11, 2009
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It looked nothing like scabies at all and the Dr. looked at the dermatology book to make sure. I wonder if the flies were sheltering under the roof at the airport. This happened during a huge rainstorm that had been going on for hours.
 

Berzin

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Nov 17, 2004
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...and the Dr. looked at the dermatology book to make sure.

He looked through "the dermatology book", eh? Now that sounds funny.

Take it from someone who's been through this. Dermatologists have a tendency of misdiagnosing all types of skin ailments.

You can visit ten different ones and get ten different diagnoses. It happens all the time with these cats.

Punctuate the situation with a trip to the DR, where a bad reaction to a particular insect bite can look like anything depending on your body's reaction to it, and there you have it-mayhem and mass hysteria.
 
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Anastacio

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Feb 22, 2010
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Like above has said, it can be hit and miss. If we were to be going off pics in a book I would have had skin cancer for about 30years. If you need to be sure visit someone specialising in tropical infections/disease. Or wait until it goes to the next stage and your skin starts falling off.
 

2dlight

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Jun 3, 2004
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Like above has said, it can be hit and miss. If we were to be going off pics in a book I would have had skin cancer for about 30years. If you need to be sure visit someone specialising in tropical infections/disease. Or wait until it goes to the next stage and your skin starts falling off.

Now, that's funny sh*t. A few months ago I went to bed with a reddening and itchy feeling around my nose and ear lobes. The next morning I woke up with my entire face swollen, skin cracked and oozing a yellow liquid; four hours waiting in the emergency room, two injections, some topical cream, $1,000.00 fee and I was on my way home: contact(to what?)dermatitis. I'm now sure "I'll be back":eek:gre:
 
Jul 4, 2010
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Now, that's funny sh*t. A few months ago I went to bed with a reddening and itchy feeling around my nose and ear lobes. The next morning I woke up with my entire face swollen, skin cracked and oozing a yellow liquid; four hours waiting in the emergency room, two injections, some topical cream, $1,000.00 fee and I was on my way home: contact(to what?)dermatitis. I'm now sure "I'll be back":eek:gre:


In my case, it was all over my upper body. Never had anything more maddening in my life. My contact dermatitis came from walking under a particular tree species, in a dry forest south of San Juan de la Maguana. I must have been particularly sensitive to whatever it sheds.
 

dulce

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Jan 1, 2002
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Sand flies or sand fleas?
I have seen tourists with what you describe trainman and the doctors in the DR told them it was sand flea bites and treated them. The US doctors are not so familar with tropical health issues.
 

dulce

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Jan 1, 2002
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AHH then that makes more sense. It won't help now but next time go to the clinic in the DR. They see it often and know how to treat it. Fleas can get at the airport from the transport vans. I got bitten like crazy in one of those vans once. The van floor was covered with beach sand and the sand fleas. I told the driver and he immediately went to a car wash and had it cleaned. He didn't mind waiting at the car wash. ha ha