Blood-sucking insect, parasite, 4 letters, 3 letter “O”, crossword clue

1. Who bites in bed at night: bedbugs Bites from domestic bedbugs
2. Why are bedbug bites dangerous?

Agree, it’s unpleasant to feel bitten in your own bed the next morning. The first thought that comes to mind is: “These are mosquitoes.” And it’s good if this turns out to be true, since it’s the easiest way to get rid of mosquitoes in your home. It is imperative to figure out who encroaches on the human body at night in order to take competent measures to destroy small pests.

Who bites in bed at night: bedbugs

Bedbugs are not the most voracious insects; they can go without food for quite a long time. Even if a person constantly lives in the house, they will bite him at night with an interval of 3-4 days. Sometimes the gap between bites can be more than a week. Once every 2-3 days, bedbugs attack only when the home is heavily infested with them. If someone bites you every night, it is likely that other parasites are to blame.

1.1. House bug bites

The most dangerous night bloodsuckers are bedbugs. Their appearance in an apartment causes people not only disgust, but also panic, because it is not so easy to get these uninvited guests out. They are afraid of sunlight, so during the day they hide in secluded places: in the cracks of beds, behind the seams of mattresses, in the joints of wallpaper or under baseboards. Typically, bedbugs prefer to build their nests in close proximity to a person’s sleeping place.

At night, parasites crawl out to hunt and attack humans. One adult bedbug is capable of drinking about 7 ml of human blood at a time. But he is not able to suck out so much blood from one puncture, so the bug crawls away and bites the victim again. If the bite is unsuccessful, the bug makes another attempt on another area of ​​the skin. As a result of this feature of bedbug nutrition, the next morning a person sees a chain of 10-15 bite marks on his body.

1.2. Why are bedbug bites dangerous?

• Cause an allergic reaction - itching and redness;
• Provoke insomnia and neurosis;
• Anemia may develop due to blood loss;
• Human performance and immunity decreases;

Important! Bedbugs rarely carry dangerous infections, but their saliva contains a strong allergen that causes reactions in 80% of people. Children are especially susceptible to bedbug bites. With regular and numerous bites, they may develop anemia.

Causes and routes of infection

Parasitic skin diseases are most common in tropical countries. Most often, infection occurs through dirty water.

Scabies mites can be transmitted through household items or bedding. Sometimes infection occurs after shaking hands with an infected person who scratched the affected areas and did not wash their hands.

With dracunculiasis, worms primarily affect the legs. When scabies develops, the parasites are localized on the bends of the limbs and between the fingers. The back, face and hairline area may also suffer.

Who bites in bed: fleas

These pests are mainly found where there are domestic animals, in particular cats and dogs. They parasitize animals, but can spread throughout the home. Fleas are small in size, but they move very quickly due to high jumps. This parasite does not live on humans, but can bite them at any time of the day, both day and night. But, compared to other parasites, fleas still more often attack people during the day. Although, if fleas have become very numerous in the house, they will not have enough food and will be a nuisance even at night. Fleas bite mainly on the legs. Their bites are similar to bedbug bites, but are randomly located, they are extremely painful and cause severe itching. Blisters from flea bites may not heal for several weeks. It is important to know that a flea bite can be dangerous for humans, since these insects can carry dangerous diseases or helminth eggs.

Known parasites and their activities

Parasites are transmitted to humans from other people, through water, contaminated meat, and from domestic animals. Parasitic skin diseases of different types have different degrees of danger, but similar manifestations. In order to detect an infection in time, you need to know the main pathogens. They make up three groups:

The type of parasite in the skin and the degree of infection are determined by the doctor. Treatment is also prescribed by a specialist; independent measures cannot be taken.

Who bites in bed: lice

Among the many types of lice, only 4 species of them can feed on human blood. Moreover, in life they do not intersect. Linen lice will not settle on your head, and pubic lice will not live in your clothes.

3.1. Human underwear

This type of lice spends most of its life in the folds of bedding or clothing. They can easily be brought home from hotels or apartments where they do not keep order. Linen lice are small in size, but they bite noticeably - they leave ulcers that do not heal for a long time. In addition, there is a danger of contracting dangerous diseases from this type of parasite. At the first suspicion that there are lice in your bed, you need to take immediate action, as insects multiply at a rapid pace. The fact that you may have been bitten by a linen louse, and not a bedbug, will be indicated by single punctures on the skin that appear after sleeping in an infested bed.

3.2. Human head

Unlike bed lice, head lice do not carry dangerous infections, but the itching from their bites is very annoying. Head lice feed in the same place where they settle - on the scalp. Moreover, falling from a person, lice do not survive, since they are not able to move long distances in search of food. It is quite easy to distinguish them from bedbugs, because they rarely bite a person below the neck. A characteristic sign of pediculosis is severe scabies that does not stop day or night.

3.3. Pubic lice

Such parasites are often found in the intimate areas of people who neglect the rules of hygiene or are promiscuous. However, chastity cannot be insurance against these insects. There are many public places where you can still catch this infection. Infection can also occur when using someone else's clothes or towels. Pubic lice bite at any time of the day, in those places that are typical for their localization on the human body - this is the groin area, the anus area and sometimes the armpits. Their bites are not as pronounced as, say, bedbug bites, but they also leave behind severe itching and irritation on the skin.

3.4. Body lice

Body lice live only on the underwear of their owner (or victim, depending on how you look at it). It is difficult to confuse body lice bites with bed bugs, since they only appear when a person puts on infested clothing. Body lice can bite a person all over the body, and after they drink blood, they again hide in the folds of clothing. There is a danger of infection of wounds after lice punctures by combing.

What are subcutaneous parasites

Parasites are capable of infecting any structure of the human body. They can live in muscle tissue, internal organs, and joint fluids. Skin damage is often observed.

The key danger of helminth infection lies in the general intoxication of the body. Any type of parasite feeds on the cells of the body and defecates there. It is the waste products of worms that lead to poisoning of the human body. The more pests, the stronger the symptoms of intoxication.

Parasites can provoke the appearance of elephantism. They also often cause inflammatory damage to the lymph nodes. If treatment for cysticercosis is not started in time, there is a risk of dysfunction of the central nervous system.

When infected with dracunculiasis and in the absence of treatment, the larvae can grow to impressive sizes up to 1 m. This parasitic pathology has the highest probability of death.

Who bites in bed at night: ticks

Forest ticks do not live in houses and apartments, but they can be brought from a walk in nature. Domestic dogs and cats are especially susceptible to their attacks. Therefore, there is a possibility that the tick will detach itself from the animal’s fur and go for a walk around the apartment. The good news is that this pest will not live long in human habitation; it is simply not adapted for this. A tick bite cannot be confused with the bite of another insect; often the tick remains in the wound, filling with blood. The bitten area doesn’t just itch, it hurts and may begin to fester. Remember that ticks can carry deadly diseases, so you should consult a doctor after being bitten. But even if the tick was not a carrier of the infection, the probability of an allergic reaction to its bite is about 80%.

4.1. Dust mites

Dust mites are microscopic insects that are invisible to the human eye. They live in house dust, and 1 g of dust can contain up to 150 varieties of dust mites. They do not feed on blood; their food is dead particles of human skin. For this reason, they cannot cause night bites, but can cause a severe allergic reaction, including an attack of bronchial asthma.

4.2. Scabies mites

The scabies mite is a dangerous small parasite, the length of which does not exceed 0.5 mm. The female tick pierces the human skin, gnaws through the passage and settles under the skin. There she lays eggs, constantly digging new passages for the offspring. The vital activity of the scabies mite causes severe itching and discomfort for humans, and these symptoms intensify at night. Scabies parasite bites are typically localized in areas with thin skin: armpits, elbow bends, interdigital spaces, abdomen. There is such a variety as the facial mite; it infects the skin on a person’s face, leaving behind subcutaneous passages.

Worms on a person's face

Having settled in the body, the parasite releases its waste products into the human blood. The presence of a helminth impairs the functioning of internal organs and reduces immunity. The constant release of toxins has a negative impact on your overall health. Skin rashes serve as an indicator of dysfunction of internal organs. Worms and pimples on the skin are concomitant phenomena.

Acne and parasite pimples are not exactly the same skin conditions. Parasites cause redness similar to hives. And sometimes papules containing worm larvae are identified. If they have settled under the skin, then helminths even become visible on the neck, arms, face and epidermis (the disease is called dirofilariasis).

The larva enters the human body through an insect bite.

In such cases, only a surgeon can help get rid of helminths. Although surgery is not a panacea. Worms are able to migrate in the epidermis, changing their location.

Nobody wants to put up with such a pathology. Nowadays, there are enough tools to help get rid of uninvited tenants. Pediculosis, a spread of head lice, is caused by another type of parasite. Males are no more than 2 mm in length, females are almost 2.5 mm. Nits are yellow-white in color. Initially, they are attached to the hair in close proximity to the follicular ostium. But 10 days pass, and their active reproduction begins. The louse moves very quickly, so finding it in the hair can be quite difficult.

Where there was a bite and salivation, papules, erythematous spots and vesicles appear. All this leads to symptoms of dermatitis, excoriation and eczema. The skin becomes inflamed and purulent-bloody crusts form. The affected areas peel, change color and itch. And what’s most unpleasant is that all this happens in open areas of the face and ears. A person feels uncomfortable with such an appearance.

Who bites at night: cockroaches

Sure, cockroaches are unpleasant neighbors, but they do not feed on human blood. Cockroaches prefer food waste, but if they do not have enough food, they may well bite a person. The bites of hungry cockroaches are very painful, do not heal for a long time and are very itchy. You can blame cockroaches for a night attack only if you are absolutely sure that there are no bedbugs, lice, or fleas in your apartment.

Treatment of parasites on the human face

The layers of skin have proven to be a suitable home for numerous parasites that are invisible to the eye. But one cannot help but notice what they lead to our appearance. The demodex mite has been the most successful in harming humans. The sebaceous glands become inflamed in the places where it is located.

Demodicosis disease is diagnosed when the external auditory canal and facial skin are affected.

Treatment of this disease should eliminate the infection, normalize the skin's protective barrier and eliminate hormonal imbalances. Symptoms alone will not help detect the parasite. To be sure and prescribe a course of treatment, the doctor scrapes the affected area of ​​facial skin and conducts tests.

This cannot be done without careful daily body hygiene. During the treatment period, you should avoid hot baths, saunas, warming procedures, swimming pools and solariums.

Towels and bed linen are changed more often, and before use they are ironed with a hot iron, dousing them with steam. Linen is washed not just with powder, but using anti-parasitic additives such as Akaril or Allergoff.

In personal hygiene, be sure to follow the following rules:

• wash your face with cleansers that will not cause skin irritation (on the advice of a dermatologist);
• do not use fatty creams, scrubs and various decorative cosmetics;
• wash thoroughly not only in the morning and evening, but also before applying a product that treats demodicosis;
• wipe your face only with disposable napkins;
• Use a good sunscreen before every time you go outside.

Follow a strict diet when it comes to nutrition. This reduces the load on the intestinal tract, regulates its work, and allows you to get rid of toxins and waste.

It is prohibited to drink alcoholic beverages, eat packaged chemical foods, spicy, fatty and very sweet foods.

Who bites at night: regular mosquitoes

These blood-sucking insects have long and everywhere become habitual neighbors of people in the warm season. A healthy person does not care about the night bite of an ordinary mosquito. A blister after such a bite and slight swelling often goes unnoticed by them. The only concern is the itching, which goes away quickly. But there are people who are especially sensitive to the saliva of this flying insect. They may experience serious symptoms of complications such as fever, nausea, shortness of breath and severe headaches. In this situation, one good thing is that mosquitoes, unlike bedbugs, are easy to notice and recognize by their annoying ringing sound. Mosquitoes are easy to kill the moment they bite.

Important! The most important thing is that when parasites are found in the house, immediately take measures to destroy them. In a comfortable environment, pests multiply at a rapid pace and it becomes more difficult to remove them.

If the cause of night attacks is bedbugs, fleas or cockroaches, the premises must be thoroughly disinfested. You should do the same if your fears about the presence of ticks in the house are confirmed. Lice on the human body are eliminated in a few days by using special preparations that are sold in pharmacies.

Methods of disposal

If you suspect little vampires in the room, check their possible habitats. If you discover their nest, immediately take measures to clean the house.

Let's look at how to get rid of bed parasites at home. The main methods can be divided into two groups:

1. Folk and insecticidal remedies;
2. Thermal and mechanical methods.

Insecticides

The following popular drugs are used for this:

• “Get” – suspension with capsules. Dissolve in water in a ratio of 1:5 and treat areas where parasites accumulate and move. The capsules stick to the insects and end up in their lair. The product is active from six months to a year, does not smell, is safe for humans and animals;
• "Riapan" - powder. It is poured into the center of the bug infestation, along thresholds and window sills, left for a certain time, then wet cleaning is carried out. But after it, allergies and headaches may occur;
• “Executioner” is a liquid that has a nerve-paralytic effect on insects. It is diluted with water and sprayed on the surface. Books, textiles, clothing, and bedding are easy to clean. The product is safe for people;
• “Raid” is an aerosol that is applied to the surface. It lasts up to 15 days after spraying and has a pungent odor. Helps in the war against bloodsuckers if there are few of them in the home.

Bedbug nesting sites

Traditional methods

Plants with a strong scent will repel pests, but will not have much effect. If anyone in your household has allergies, be careful.

Wormwood, tansy, wild rosemary, and valerian (or tincture) are very popular.

• Wormwood does not provide complete relief from insects. Its bitter aroma can only scare them off for a while;
• Tansy is cut when it blooms. They dry it, place it in the habitats of bloodsuckers who cannot stand its smell and leave. But the plant is very toxic, so when using it, ventilate the rooms and supervise children;
• An infusion is made from marsh wild rosemary, a plant with a specific odor, which is used to spray the affected furniture. After cleaning, a sharp toxic aroma remains in the room, so the rooms must be ventilated for at least 1-2 days;
• Valerian is added to water and sprayed.

Turpentine

Has a pungent odor and toxicity. To clean the surface, you can use the following emulsions:

• Mix 10 ml of turpentine in 100 ml of water. A caustic emulsion will be obtained by adding 15 ml of kerosene and 30 g of green soap;
• Mix 100 ml of turpentine and kerosene, add naphthalene - 20 g;
• We combine 40 g of benzene, 10 g of ammonia, 150 g of denatured alcohol;
• Drip salicylic acid (3 g) into a container, pour phenol (20 ml), add turpentine (40 ml).

The prepared products are poured directly onto the parasites and their lair. At this time, there should be no children or pets in the home because the substances are toxic.

They use vinegar essence or 9% vinegar to repel pests. The essence is used to lubricate vents, baseboards, cracks, and corners. Wipe doors, window sills, frames, and furniture with a solution of water and vinegar (50/50). Treatment is carried out 3 times a day for three days.

Classification of domestic insects

All insects can be divided into the following groups:

1. Harmless insects that do not pose a danger to people and do not cause harm to a home or apartment. These are silverfish, small spiders, centipedes and flycatchers.
2. Pests are arthropods that do not directly affect people, but cause damage to food and various items in the house. They are moths, cockroaches, whiteflies, springtails, termites, woodlice, ants, book louse, carpet beetles.
3. Parasitic insects are insects in the apartment that bite people and feed on their blood. These include mosquitoes, bedbugs, fleas and lice.

Household insect pests

Pests include insects that do not directly touch a person, but actively feed on his products, clothing and furniture. The most famous representatives of household pests are cockroaches , moths, ants, woodlice, termites, etc.

Domestic cockroaches

Domestic cockroaches are a clear sign of sloppiness and unsanitary conditions in the apartment. Cockroaches multiply quickly and take over the apartment, starting from the kitchen and common areas. Cockroaches feed on food and waste in garbage bags and buckets. Cockroaches are carriers of bacteria and infectious diseases, so proximity to such pests is unacceptable in a self-respecting family. The destruction of cockroaches in an apartment is possible after just one treatment of the apartment.

House moth

Everyone has seen house moths; along with cockroaches, they are well known especially to the older generation. In almost any apartment you can find moths that feed on fur or fabric, hence the names fur moth or clothes moth . The coat moth feeds on fur and lays eggs, but the clothes moth is not as harmful as its caterpillars, which make holes in clothes, upholstery, and also stores of cereals and flour.

House ants

These are one of the most difficult insect pests to remove that live in an apartment or house. Domestic red ants are also known by the name “pharaoh ants”, since the scientist who gave the name mistakenly believed that they came from Egypt, but in fact these ants came to us from India.

All ants are social insects and live according to strict laws. Having settled with a person, they form a colony, which can consist of several nests located in different places, which complicates the destruction of ants .

House ants are omnivores, so they eat everything that comes their way with equal pleasure. And the paths of ants can run from a sugar bowl, a basket of sweets and a bread bin towards a trash can with waste and back, therefore, like cockroaches, house ants can spread various harmful microbes, bacteria and infections .

Disinfection against insects in the apartment

Whatever they are, insects in an apartment are always unpleasant, even if they are completely harmless and have not blatantly infested all surfaces, still a modern adequate person is unlikely to want to be neighbors with them at home. Of course, when there are no parasites or pests in the apartment, it is much more difficult for a person to gather his courage and start fighting against domestic insects . In most cases, there is simply not enough time or desire to use, for example, folk remedies or resort to chemicals.

It’s a completely different matter when pests and parasites have settled at home. If a person is able to tolerate parasites in the form of cockroaches or moths for a long time without resorting to measures to eliminate them, then if there are bedbugs or fleas at home, then there is no time for delay. Bedbugs bite every night, and fleas bite all the time. After one or two such bloody nights, any sane person will take up the extermination of parasites .

Bedbug nesting sites

Extermination of domestic insects can be carried out in two ways:

• independently using folk methods and remedies or using drugs;
• call a disinfectant to carry out the treatment.

For the first method, there are many instructions and tips that can be freely found on the Internet. The effectiveness of using a traditional method or drug will depend only on you, and the main thing here is not to overdo it. When using strong disinfectants, you must strictly adhere to the instructions included with the disinfectant, otherwise baiting domestic insects can have serious consequences for human health.

How to treat a patient if subcutaneous worms or parasites are found

1. Heartworms are destroyed through surgery; the doctor simply needs to remove the worm, in which case the worm is cut out of the skin. It is also necessary to check whether the helminth has left eggs, and if so, general treatment of the body is carried out by administering medications. It must be remembered that dirofilariasis and the Morgellons virus greatly affect the immune system, so it needs to be increased; simple treatment is not enough, otherwise the parasites may reappear.
2. Filaria or filamentous nematodes are easily destroyed by modern drugs; doctors often use Hetrazan. Since these worms are well hidden, treatment takes place in the last stages of development, when the parasite is well established in the body. Therefore, it is advisable that the patient is inpatient treatment under the supervision of a doctor. In some cases, the doctor may prescribe surgery to remove the helminth from under the skin; the worm is usually located in the upper layers and is clearly visible.
3. Pork tapeworm does not tolerate modern antiparasitic drugs, but this is only applicable for not very advanced situations when the worms have not invaded all areas of the body. In difficult cases, surgical intervention is required.
4. Schistosomes can be destroyed by taking antimony; certain doses are usually prescribed, exclusively under the supervision of the attending physician. Under no circumstances should you destroy worms yourself, as this can lead to severe intoxication of the patient’s body.
5. Guinea worm is removed from the body exclusively through surgery. The doctor finds a place where adult worms are hiding, which are removed from the body, and the wounds are treated to prevent secondary infection.
6. The scabies mite does not like sulfur ointment, so it is rubbed on the skin for about a week, additionally using a special sulfur soap with a light solution of hydrochloric acid. If the patient has severe skin lesions, antibiotics and special ointments must be prescribed to protect against infection. In addition, it is recommended to boil all clothes and bedding.

How to protect yourself and loved ones from subcutaneous worms

Firstly, always maintain hygiene, wash your hands after touching objects that are in public places, and do not eat dirty or unwashed vegetables, fruits and herbs. Try to avoid eating with dirty hands as little as possible, for example after shaking hands with colleagues or after counting money.

Secondly, never try on someone else’s clothes, especially those that have already come into contact with his skin. These could be jeans, T-shirts or tank tops. Because this can lead to rapid infection with worms. Most parasites, or rather their larvae, are often found on the patient’s clothes.

Thirdly, eradicate insects around you, in particular fleas, mosquitoes and flies with cockroaches, because these are the main carriers of infections, and very dangerous ones at that. If an abrasion or bite appears, treat the wound immediately to protect yourself and your loved ones from the development of helminthiasis.

Fourthly, you should not swim or even just wash your hands in open water, because at the slightest contact with contaminated water, parasites destroy the protective layer and penetrate the skin.

Always be attentive to your health and at the slightest symptoms of allergic reactions, consult a doctor for examination.

The use of drugs that destroy demodex mites.

Pharmaceuticals offer creams, eye drops and ointments in the fight against demodicosis.

Medications:

Ointment containing benzyl benzonate. It is rubbed in up to 5 times a day. But, if the patient has a pustular infection, then this ointment cannot be treated.

Antibacterial gel Baziron. They lubricate the affected skin areas twice a day. Therapy lasts 3 months.

Permethrin ointment for application before bed, the entire course lasts 2 weeks.

Demazol cream is used to treat the skin of the eyelids. Rub twice a day, course 6 weeks.

Taking medications

When treating demodicosis on the face, drugs of several categories are prescribed. These are not only antiparasitic agents, but also antibiotics.

In this list:

• Metronidazole tablets. The drug is considered potent and in the treatment of demodicosis they drink 500 mg twice a day. The duration of treatment is determined by the doctor.
• Doxycycline capsules. 2 capsules per day, course duration at the discretion of the attending physician.
• Antihistamine tablets Tavegil relieve allergies, take 1 mg twice a day.
• Immunomodulator Detox enhances the body's protective functions. Take one capsule twice a day. Usually demodicosis requires three months of treatment with this drug.

Treatment regimen for trichinosis

This disease, in any form, is treated only while the patient is in the hospital. The reason for such categoricalness is the desire to avoid complications caused by the presence of Trichinella. As a rule, their presence in the body leads to pneumonia and myocarditis, and then irreversible processes begin.

The following medications are prescribed for the treatment of trichinosis:

• antiparasitic drugs;
• broad spectrum antibiotics;
• antihistamines;
• corticosteroids;
• mineral and vitamin supplements.

If the symptoms of trichinosis are severe, the patient is prescribed symptomatic therapy:

• antispasmodics, preventing muscle spasms;
• analgesics that relieve muscle pain;
• antipyretics (if the temperature is elevated).

Anthelmintic drugs:

Mebendazole, Vermox and Albendazole kill parasites at any age stage.

Allergy medications:

Suprastin and Tavergil. If pneumonia and myocarditis develop, the doctor prescribes corticosteroids.

When treating trichinosis at any stage, care must be taken to enhance rehydration. Increasing the amount of fluid in the daily diet helps improve the patient's well-being by facilitating the elimination of toxins. Muscle pain can be very severe. In this regard, bed rest is prescribed for the entire course of treatment.

The danger of trichinosis is that it leads to severe pathologies, including death. This means that as soon as this disease is identified, treatment must begin immediately. To avoid infection with it, you should be careful when purchasing meat and be confident in the reputation of the outlet.