Insect bites and insect stings

About insect bites and insect stings

Insect bites and stings are very common.

The symptoms of insect bites or stings are usually a:

sharp, temporary stinging pain where your child has been bitten or stung
white mark surrounded by a small, inflamed area.

The inflamed area might look pink or red on light skin or purple, dark brown or grey on dark skin.

Some children might get a stronger reaction with more inflammation. Younger children tend to get stronger reactions than older children and teenagers.

If an insect stings or bites your child, remove the insect carefully while wearing gloves. If the insect is dead, keep it so your doctor can identify it, if necessary.

Insects in Australia don’t generally spread infections. And most aren’t venomous.

A few children get life-threatening anaphylaxis after insect bites or stings. Symptoms include difficulty breathing, a swollen tongue or throat, and unresponsiveness. First lay your child flat or keep them sitting. Next use an adrenaline auto-injector like EpiPen or AnaPen if one is available. Then call an ambulance – phone 000.

Ant bites and stings

Symptoms

A painful inflamed lump
Hives
Itch
Blisters
Pus

If your child has an ant venom allergy, they might get symptoms of anaphylaxis.

Medical help: when to get it
Most ant bites and stings don’t need medical treatment, but take your child to your GP if they:

get blistering, widespread hives or ulcers
have pain that doesn’t go away
have signs of infection – for example, pus and increasing pain and heat at the site
start to feel unwell or have vomiting, stomach pain, fever, sweating or headache.

If your child has symptoms of anaphylaxis, you should lay your child flat, use an adrenaline auto-injector and call an ambulance on 000 as soon as possible.

Treatment for ant bites and stings

Remove the ant from the skin.
Wash the affected area with water.
Give paracetamol or ibuprofen in recommended doses to ease pain and swelling.
Put a cold pack on the area to reduce swelling.

Relief from an itch caused by ant bites and stings

After checking with your GP or pharmacist, give your child antihistamine tablets or syrup, especially if the itch is stopping them from sleeping.
Use calamine lotion, menthol moisturisers, or gels and sprays with aluminium sulphate.
Use a mild corticosteroid ointment, which you can get from your local pharmacy, or a stronger corticosteroid ointment, which needs to be prescribed by your GP.
Encourage your child to have a cool bath.
Distract your child with games or activities.

It’s a good idea to keep your child’s fingernails short. This can help to prevent infection if your child is scratching a lot.

Ant bite symptoms should improve over a few days.

Prevention of ant bites and stings

Stay away from nests and other areas where there are a lot of insects.
Use insect repellent.
Wear appropriate clothing outside – for example, shoes, long sleeves and pants.
Wear gloves when gardening.

Bed bug bites

Symptoms

Itch
Hives
An inflamed and possibly painful lump
Bruising
Blisters
Pus

If your child is allergic to bed bug bites, they might get symptoms of anaphylaxis.

Medical help: when to get it
Most bites from bed bugs don’t need medical treatment, but take your child to the GP if they:

get blistering, widespread hives or ulcers
have pain that doesn’t go away
have signs of infection – for example, pus and increasing pain and heat at the site
start to feel unwell or have vomiting, stomach pain, fever, sweating or headache.

If your child has symptoms of anaphylaxis, you should lay your child flat, use an adrenaline auto-injector and call an ambulance on 000 as soon as possible.

Treatment for bed bug bites

Give paracetamol or ibuprofen in recommended doses to ease pain and swelling.
Put a cold pack on the area to reduce swelling.

Relief from an itch caused by bed bug bites

After checking with your GP or pharmacist, give your child antihistamine tablets or syrup, especially if the itch is stopping them from sleeping.
Use calamine lotion, menthol moisturisers, or gels and sprays with aluminium sulphate.
Use a mild corticosteroid ointment, which you can get from your local pharmacy, or a stronger corticosteroid ointment, which needs to be prescribed by your GP.
Encourage your child to have a cool bath.
Place a cool, damp cloth on itchy areas.
Distract your child with games or activities.

It’s a good idea to keep your child’s fingernails short. This can help to prevent infection if your child is scratching a lot.

Prevention of bed bug bites

Declutter rooms to remove areas where bed bugs can hide and live.
Wash bed sheets and pillow cases at temperatures over 60°C.
Avoid putting open luggage on the floor and bed when travelling.
Carefully check second-hand furniture for bed bugs before bringing it home.
Use a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter to remove bed bugs.
Consider hiring a pest control professional to help you get rid of bed bugs.

Bee stings

Symptoms

An inflamed lump
Severe pain and rapid swelling
Possible itch
Blistering
Bruising

If your child has a bee venom allergy, they might get symptoms of anaphylaxis.

Medical help: when to get it
Most bee stings don’t need medical treatment, but take your child to your GP if they:

get blistering, widespread hives or ulcers
have pain that doesn’t go away
have signs of infection – for example, pus and increasing pain and heat at the site
start to feel unwell or have vomiting, stomach pain, fever, sweating or headache.

If your child has symptoms of anaphylaxis, you should lay your child flat, use an adrenaline auto-injector and call an ambulance on 000 as soon as possible.

Treatment for bee stings

Scrape off the sting carefully if you can.
Avoid squeezing the bee sting, because this will inject more venom into the wound.
Give paracetamol or ibuprofen in recommended doses to ease mild pain and swelling.
Put a cold pack on the area to reduce swelling.

Relief from an itch caused by bee stings

After checking with your GP or pharmacist, give your child antihistamine tablets or syrup, especially if the itch is stopping them from sleeping.
Use calamine lotion, menthol moisturisers, or gels and sprays with aluminium sulphate.
Use a mild corticosteroid ointment, which you can get from your local pharmacy, or a stronger corticosteroid ointment, which needs to be prescribed by your GP.
Encourage your child to have a cool bath.
Distract your child with games or activities.

It’s a good idea to keep your child’s fingernails short. This can help to prevent infection if your child is scratching a lot.

Bee sting symptoms should improve over the next few days.

Prevention of bee stings

Wear light-coloured clothing.
Avoid wearing strong perfume or banana-scented products.
Wash regularly to avoid body odour.
Try to keep children away from flowering plants.
Clean up food scraps and drinks.
Avoid swatting at bees with your hand.
Be careful when drinking from open soft drink cans if you’re outside.
If there’s a bee swarm near your home, consider hiring a professional to remove it.
Use insect repellents when outdoors.

Centipede bites

Symptoms

An inflamed and possibly painful lump
Swelling
Itch
Numbness
Bleeding (rare)

Centipede bites are uncommon.

Medical help: when to get it
Most centipede bites don’t need medical treatment, but take your child to your GP if they:

get blistering, widespread hives or ulcers
have pain that doesn’t go away
have signs of infection – for example, pus and increasing pain and heat at the site
start to feel unwell or have vomiting, stomach pain, fever, sweating or headache.

Treatment for centipede bites

Give paracetamol or ibuprofen in recommended doses to ease mild pain and swelling.
Put a cold pack on the area to reduce swelling.
Apply firm pressure to the area if there’s any bleeding.

Relief from an itch caused by bee stings

After checking with your GP or pharmacist, give your child antihistamine tablets or syrup, especially if the itch is stopping them from sleeping.
Use calamine lotion, menthol moisturisers, or gels and sprays with aluminium sulphate.
Use a mild corticosteroid ointment, which you can get from your local pharmacy, or a stronger corticosteroid ointment, which needs to be prescribed by your GP.
Encourage your child to have a cool bath.
Distract your child with games or activities.

It’s a good idea to keep your child’s fingernails short. This can help to prevent infection if your child is scratching a lot.

Centipede bite symptoms should improve over a few days.

Flea bites

Symptoms

Small, itchy marks on your child’s ankles and legs
Small, itchy marks on other parts of the body if your child has been bitten while holding an animal
Blisters

Medical help: when to get it
Most flea bites don’t need medical treatment, but take your child to your GP if they:

get blistering, widespread hives or ulcers
have pain that doesn’t go away
have signs of infection – for example, pus and increasing pain and heat at the site
start to feel unwell or have vomiting, stomach pain, fever, sweating or headache.

Treatment for flea bites
Put a cold pack on the area to reduce swelling.

Relief from an itch caused by flea bites

After checking with your GP or pharmacist, give your child antihistamine tablets or syrup, especially if the itch is stopping them from sleeping.
Use a mild corticosteroid ointment, which you can get from your local pharmacy, or a stronger corticosteroid ointment, which needs to be prescribed by your GP.
Use calamine lotion, menthol moisturisers, or gels and sprays with aluminium sulphate.
Encourage your child to have a cool bath.
Distract your child with games or activities.

It’s a good idea to keep your child’s fingernails short. This can help to prevent infection if your child is scratching a lot.

Flea bite symptoms should improve over a week.

Prevention of flea bites
The key to preventing flea bites is getting rid of fleas from your home:

Thoroughly vacuum floors, carpets and rugs. Use a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter.
Wash bed linen and pet bedding frequently.
Mow your grass frequently, particularly in areas where your pets spend time.
Treat pets with insecticides, especially in the summer months. Ask your vet for advice on what insecticides to use.

Limiting your child’s contact with pets can also help with flea bite prevention.

Mosquito bites

Symptoms
Children’s reactions to mosquito bites vary a lot, but symptoms are usually:

itchy, inflamed lumps
swelling, especially if the bite is on children’s faces.

Medical help: when to get it
Most mosquito bites don’t need medical treatment, but take your child to your GP if they:

get blistering, widespread hives or ulcers
have pain that doesn’t go away
have signs of infection – for example, pus and increasing pain and heat at the site
start to feel unwell or have vomiting, stomach pain, fever, sweating or headache.

Treatment for mosquito bites
Put a cold pack on the area to reduce swelling.

Relief from an itch caused by mosquito bites

After checking with your GP or pharmacist, give your child antihistamine tablets or syrup, especially if the itch is stopping them from sleeping.
Use calamine lotion, menthol moisturisers, or gels and sprays with aluminium sulphate.
Use a mild corticosteroid ointment, which you can get from your local pharmacy, or a stronger corticosteroid ointment, which needs to be prescribed by your GP.
Encourage your child to have a cool bath.
Distract your child with games or activities.

It’s a good idea to keep your child’s fingernails short. This can help to prevent infection if your child is scratching a lot.

Mosquito bite symptoms should improve over a few days.

Prevention of mosquito bites

Put a net over your baby’s cot.
When you’re indoors, avoid turning on lights until windows and doors are closed.
Fit insect screens onto windows and doors.
Consider using an electronic mosquito trap.
Wear appropriate clothing outside – for example, shoes and light-coloured clothing with long sleeves and long pants.
Use insect repellent if your child is one year old or older.

Take extra care in the summer, especially at dusk and night. Mosquitoes are most active at these times.

Insect repellent
If your child is one year old or older, they can use a small amount of insect repellent. The best repellents have an ingredient called DEET. Repellents with up to 10% DEET are OK for children.

Here’s how to use insect repellent:

Try to keep insect repellent away your child’s mouth, eyes and any cuts or abrasions. It might be better to use a roll-on rather than a spray.
For young children, rub or spray the repellent onto clothing, rather than directly onto skin. Some insect repellents can stain or damage fabric, so test the repellent on the fabric first.
Reapply repellent after swimming, exercise or a lot of sweating.

Mosquitoes can spread infections from person to person, so avoiding mosquito bites is very important, particularly if you’re travelling overseas. It’s rare for mosquitoes in Australia to carry diseases, but the risk is higher in some parts of Australia. Medical conditions caused by mosquitoes include Ross River Virus, Murray Valley encephalitis, Kunjin virus and Barmah Forest virus.

Spider bites

Symptoms

Severe pain
Swelling
Itch

Funnel-web and red-back spider bites can cause death. Their venoms might also cause sweating, fainting, nausea, headaches, numbness and muscle spasms.

Medical help: when to get it
You should call 000 immediately if you think your child has been bitten by a funnel-web or red-back spider.

If you think it was another kind of spider, you should take your child to the GP if they:

get blistering, widespread hives or ulcers
have pain that doesn’t go away
have signs of infection – for example, pus and increasing pain and heat at the site
start to feel unwell or have vomiting, stomach pain, fever, sweating or headache.

If possible, keep the spider to show the doctor.

Treatment for spider bites

Give paracetamol or ibuprofen in recommended doses to ease mild pain and swelling.
Put a cold pack on the area to reduce swelling.

Relief from an itch caused by spider bites

After checking with your GP or pharmacist, give your child antihistamine tablets or syrup, especially if the itch is stopping them from sleeping.
Use calamine lotion, menthol moisturisers, or gels and sprays with aluminium sulphate.
Use a mild corticosteroid ointment, which you can get from your local pharmacy, or a stronger corticosteroid ointment, which needs to be prescribed by your GP.
Encourage your child to have a cool bath.
Distract your child with games or activities.

It’s a good idea to keep your child’s fingernails short. This can help to prevent infection if your child is scratching a lot.

Spider bite symptoms should improve over a few days.

Tick bites

Symptoms
If you find and remove a tick quickly, symptoms will probably just be inflammation around the bite.

Sometimes a tick bite can lead to:

ulcers
blisters
bruising
inflamed lumps
pus.

In more severe cases, a tick bite can cause anaphylaxis or tick paralysis.

Symptoms of tick paralysis include:

body rashes
headaches
fever
flu-like symptoms including coughing and sneezing
difficulty walking
sensitivity to bright lights
arm, leg and face weakness.

Medical help: when to get it
If you think your child has a tick bite, you should take your child to the GP or hospital emergency department if you can’t remove the tick or if your child:

has a known tick allergy
starts to get an allergic reaction
get blistering, widespread hives or ulcers
has symptoms of tick paralysis
has pain that doesn’t go away
has signs of infection – for example, pus and increasing pain and heat at the site
starts to feel unwell or has vomiting, fever, sweating or headache.

If your child has symptoms of anaphylaxis, you should lay your child flat, use an adrenaline auto-injector, and call an ambulance on 000 as soon as possible.

Treatment for tick bites

If your child hasn’t had an allergic reaction to a tick bite before, try to remove the tick.
For ticks 2 mm or smaller, spray insect repellent containing pyrethrin or pyrethroid chemical on the area. Or apply permethrin cream to the area twice, leaving one minute between applications. You can get these products from a pharmacy.
After applying the pyrethroid chemical, use tweezers to grasp the tick and pull upwards – don’t jerk, twist or squeeze the body of the tick as it might burst and leave parts of the tick in the skin.
For ticks larger than 2 mm, apply an ether-containing spray on the area, like Medi Freeze Tick Off. The tick should drop off after a few minutes. You can get this spray from the pharmacy.
Once the tick is removed, clean the area and your hands with rubbing alcohol or antibacterial wash and water.
Dispose of a live tick by putting it in alcohol, placing it in a sealed bag or container, or wrapping it tightly in tape.
Give paracetamol or ibuprofen in recommended doses to ease mild pain and swelling.
Put a cold pack on the area to reduce swelling.

Tick bite symptoms should improve over a few days.

Relief from an itch caused by tick bites

After checking with your GP or pharmacist, give your child antihistamine tablets or syrup, especially if the itch is stopping them from sleeping.
Use a mild corticosteroid ointment, which you can get from your local pharmacy, or a stronger corticosteroid ointment, which needs to be prescribed by your GP.

Prevention of tick bites
Avoid tick-infested areas, particularly during humid weather and after rainfall. This includes coastal bushlands and grasslands.

If you have to be in tick-infested areas, here’s what to do:

Wear light-coloured clothing with long sleeves and long pants. It’s a good idea to tuck pants into socks too.
Treat clothes with permethrin before and after visiting these areas.
Use insect repellents containing DEET or picaridin before visiting these areas.
Regularly check clothes for any ticks.

Medical conditions caused by ticks include Queensland tick typhus and Flinders Island spotted fever. There’s no evidence of ticks causing Lyme disease in Australia.

Wasp stings

Symptoms

Pain
Swelling

Allergic reactions to wasp stings aren’t common. Some children might be at risk of anaphylaxis if they have a wasp allergy, but this isn’t common either.

Medical help: when to get it
Most wasp stings don’t need medical treatment, but take your child to your GP if they:

have pain that doesn’t go away
get blistering, widespread hives or ulcers
have signs of infection – for example, pus and increasing pain and heat at the site
start to feel unwell or have vomiting, stomach pain, fever, sweating or headache.

If your child has symptoms of anaphylaxis, you should lay your child flat, use an adrenaline auto-injector and call an ambulance on 000 as soon as possible.

Treatment for wasp stings

If the stinger is still in the skin, remove it with a blunt, flat object, like a credit card. Avoid using tweezers or your fingers because it might accidentally squeeze more venom into your child.
Gently clean the area with an antiseptic wash.
Give paracetamol or ibuprofen in recommended doses to ease mild pain and swelling.
Put a cold pack on the area to reduce swelling.

Relief from an itch caused by wasp stings

After checking with your GP or pharmacist, give antihistamine tablets or syrup, especially if the itch is stopping your child from sleeping.
Use calamine lotion, menthol moisturisers, or gels and sprays with aluminium sulphate.
Use a mild corticosteroid ointment, which you can get from your local pharmacy, or a stronger corticosteroid ointment, which needs to be prescribed by your GP.
Encourage your child to have a cool bath.
Distract your child with games or activities.

It’s a good idea to keep your child’s fingernails short. This can help to prevent infection if your child is scratching a lot.

Wasp sting symptoms should improve over the next few days.

Prevention of wasp stings

Wear light-coloured clothing.
Avoid wearing strong perfume or banana-scented products.
Wash regularly to avoid body odour.
Try to avoid flowering plants.
Clean up food scraps and drinks.
Avoid swatting at wasps with your hand.
Be careful when drinking from open soft drink cans if you’re outside.
If there’s a wasp nest near your home, consider hiring a professional to remove it.
Use insect repellents when outdoors.

If your child has an insect allergy and is at risk of anaphylaxis, your allergy or immunology specialist might talk to you about allergen immunotherapy. This treatment typically takes 3-5 years to complete, but it usually works well.