Bacteria called Orientia tsutsugamushi causes the disease scrub typhus, which is spread to people through bites of infected chiggers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Man, I hate chiggers. I've never had a problem with them here, but when I was a kid in Georgia, I'd come in from hunting and my legs would be infested with them from the knees down, itching and burning like my legs were on fire.
WTF is a chigger?
ReplyDeleteThey are damn near invisible. Got one arm like a trowel. They spit and it breaks down you skin then they trowel it into their mouths. The spit is like acid and it keeps on a giving. Itches like crazy and festers. This is for days. If ever in the country at least in Virginia and ya feel like something is crawling on you jump in a river or get to a shower, Now! I knew a girl that laid down in some moss. My god, she was nothing but a rash everywhere. She about lived in a tub with epson salts for a long time.
DeleteSix legged, macroscopic bug that bites, spits digestive juices into the wound, feeds on you, and eventually falls off to go to the next stage of life. We used to paint nail polish on the wound as we thought it would smother them. They go to wherever clothing is close and tight, such as waistbands, underwear, bra's, etc. I hate the damned things.
DeleteIn Louisiana they are called Red Bugs maybe you know them by that. Bob in B. R.
DeleteIsn’t it a Chinese n…
DeleteChiggers....nasty nasty little beasties. Just one of the many reasons I prefer to live in the High Desert.
ReplyDeleteBefore the end of WWII there were no antibiotics available for scrub typhus, and in Papa New Guinea, casualties fron this disease were about 5 times that of battle casualties. My dad was stationed in the Philippines (Leyte), and the troops were cautioned not to wander into the jungle for fear of scrub typhus.
ReplyDeleteDAMMIT, KENNY! How many times do I have to tell you it’s “Chegroes” now?! Sheesh, when will you ever learn? SMDH…
ReplyDeleteWiscoDave
Not bad, not bad at all!
DeleteChigga, please...
DeleteUNC and others in NC triangle are rocking gain-of-function biolabs. I'm suspicious of previously unknown disease from Asia showing up there.
ReplyDeleteChiggers are the worst. Don't ask me how I know. They will crawl up your legs seeking the softest flesh, usually the inner thighs. Their bites will wake you from your sleep. Never again.
ReplyDeleteI haven’t heard of Orientia tsutsugamushi since I was in medical school back in the ‘70s. We were told that the name means “small but deadly” in Japanese.
ReplyDeletejen is probably on to something....I've felt the same way ever since contracting alpha gal from a tick bite...
ReplyDeletepermethrin is your friend in the woods, do not leave home without it
Chiggers are VERY common here and seldom do I go a warn season with at least 2-3 episodes with them. As kids, we hit them with kerosene, paint thinner or fingernail polish to help relieve the itch. I had 67 one time, from my armpits, beltline and balls down to between my toes - thought I might go insane...
ReplyDeleteOne thing I learned a couple years ago was that the enzymes in "Adolph's Meat Tenderizer" will break down the active ingredient in the bite to stop the damage and kill the itch. Make a paste with some of the powdered Adolph's and rub it into the bite(s) and the relief is almost immediate.
Ed
Here's another idea. We (Cherokee/mixed bloods) would chew up plantain leaves, make a paste, then slather it on small wounds. This MIGHT work on chiggers, but damned if I know why we never tried it before.
DeleteOh gee, another novel pathogen. What a surprise.
DeleteEither came from Darien Gap or a biolab, or both.
Uh huh, and just how is leaks from biolab now a thing?
Adolf’s meat tenderizer? Wasn’t that called HCN?
DeleteIchthMmol ointment is a drawing salve that was developed in the fifty’s. It works especially well on these damn critters but be warned, it’s a black tar like substance and it will stain anything it touches. I first learned about this salve when I had a severe case after a two week long training rotation at camp landing here in Florida. It was so bad that even the military issue salve didn’t help. I was given som “ icky oil” from a pharmacist who immigrated from India. She said that that’s all they used over there, and damn if it didn’t stop the itching in a matter of a couple of hours. The bites cleared up in a couple of days. I never go into the woods now without a tube of it in my snivel kit.
ReplyDeleteMy grandparents kept a sock full of powdered sulfur at both doors. If you went outside, you banged your ankles with the sock and it kept the chiggers away. I'd bang from toe to knee and never had a problem at their house. Nail polish will get rid of them if you get a bite. They burrow under the skin, but still have to breathe. The nail polish cuts the air supply and they either leave or die.
ReplyDeleteSnap a flea collar around one ankle before heading out into the woods, problem solved
ReplyDeleteAt the camp in SW Mississippi, they hang out on brush/grass along trails hoping to latch on to you for a blood meal. You don't see em or feel them move, or when they bite. I think they inject an enzyme into your skin that you won't even know about till later, if you've never experienced it, youll lay down and have a little itch here or there. You may even rub your feet on each other to address the surprise itches. The experienced know not to scratch ever. Once you know you have a bite, you don't do anything other than slap the itches. If you scratch the bites and break the skin, you will scratch for days and it will get progressively worse. At that rate, you will have them for a month. Pro forest tip: deet on outside of pants, and from knees, socks, shoes and so on (NOT YOUR BALLS, I REPEAT NOT YOUR BALLS, trust me on this) if you keep your lower extremities covered, they will not want to grab onto you. But, all tight areas are their ideal target locations, socks, waistbands, armpits, all cracks, your junk, ass, anywhere is fair game. Deet my boys, lotsa deet!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was wandering in the Florida woods during my two week annual with the FLARNG, I did the powder in the sock thing every morning before going out - except I has 10% Sevin dust in my sock. Didn't have any problems with any creepy-crawlies. . .
ReplyDeleteYou can get HOURS of relief from the itching of chigger bites by using a hair dryer as hot as you can stand it, blowing on the area of the bites. A few minutes of hot air on your skin will keep the itching at bay for a long time.
ReplyDeleteI once had multiple hundreds of bites on both my ankles, and heard about the hair dryer trick from an Internet forum. I was desperate so I tried it, and it worked really well. It was the only thing that let me keep my sanity from the itching.
Turn the hair dryer on, high setting, and wave it back and forth with over the area of skin with the bites. As hot as you can take it without causing burns to yourself. Try it and see.
I will second the application of heat as a remedy to the itch of a chigger bite. I’ve never used the hair dryer method though. Most of my encounters are knees and below. I just sit on the edge of the tub, helps if you have a hosed shower head but not necessary. Water as hot as you can stand and put the area underneath until it no longer “feels” hot and increase the temp a bit, repeat until you can’t keep it under any longer. Takes just a minute or two. Histamine causes the itch and high heat just happens to break down histamine. Only thing I’ve found that works and it usually lasts 7 or 8 hours, enough to get a descent nights sleep.
DeleteHas anyone used Lea & Perrins The Original Worcestershire Sauce on these bites?
ReplyDeleteI use it for bee and wasp stings. Works great on the stings.
Do not know why.
Heltau
A mass covering of bites is usually Turkey Mites. Avoid patches of open dusty areas that turkeys use to dust themselves. Chiggers are not generally masses of bites but several spread out. If your body part looks like a rash with so many bites....Turkey Mites.
ReplyDeleteYears ago (40+) I went groundhog hunting on a friend's parents farm that hadn't had cattle run on it in 7-8 years and was pretty grown up. The next day the chiggers started showing. We went to the drug store to find something to fight the little bastards and the Pharmacist recommend ChiggerRid. It was like clear fingernail polish with stuff added to help with the itch. I stripped down and the wife started dabbing the stuff on the bites. She got to 125 and quit counting. I had them from ankle to midsection. The stuff works, tho.
ReplyDeleteDusting your shoes / socks with sulfur or using deet with keep em off. They love tall grass and leaves so mow frequently.
ReplyDeleteI often scrape them with a soda bottle cap until they are bloody raw and stop itching. Sand fleas or some other jumping bug in my back yard are worse. :(
- Arc
Can't help wondering what country these chiggers with this apparently never before seen in this country disease came from. . . which of our current invaders brought along a few "guests"?
ReplyDelete