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.

Some children might get a bigger reaction, with more inflammation. Younger children tend to have bigger 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 poisonous.

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 if one is available. Then call an ambulance – phone 000.

Ant bites and stings

Symptoms

• A painful inflamed lump
• Swelling
• Itchiness

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

Medical help: when do you need 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

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

Relief from itching caused by ant bites and stings

• After checking with your GP or pharmacist, give antihistamine tablets or syrup, especially if the itching 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.
• 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 – for example, shoes, long sleeves and pants when you’re outside.

Bee stings

Symptoms

• An inflamed lump
• Severe pain and rapid swelling
• Possible itchiness

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

Medical help: when do you need 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 itching caused by bee stings

• After checking with your GP or pharmacist, give antihistamine tablets or syrup, especially if the itching 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.
• 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.

Centipede bites

Symptoms
Centipede bites are uncommon, but their symptoms are:

• an inflamed lump, which might be painful
• swelling
• itchiness.

Medical help: when do you need 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.

Relief from itching caused by bee stings

• After checking with your GP or pharmacist, give antihistamine tablets or syrup, especially if the itching 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.
• 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

Medical help: when do you need 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 itching caused by flea bites

• After checking with your GP or pharmacist, give antihistamine tablets or syrup, especially if the itching is stopping your child from sleeping.
• Use a mild corticosteroid ointment, which you can get from your local pharmacy.
• 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.
• Wash bed linen.
• 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 do you need 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 itching caused by mosquito bites

• After checking with your GP or pharmacist, give antihistamine tablets or syrup, especially if the itching 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.
• 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.
• When you go outside, dress children in light-coloured clothing with long sleeves and long pants.

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. Diseases caused by mosquitoes include Ross River Virus, Murray Valley encephalitis, Kunjin virus and Barmah Forest virus.

Spider bites

Symptoms

• Severe pain
• Swelling
• Itchiness

Funnel-web and red-back spider bites can cause death.

Medical help: when do you need it?
If you think your child has a spider bite, 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.

You should also take your child to the GP or a hospital emergency department if you think they’ve been bitten by a funnel-web or red-back spider. 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 itching caused by spider bites

• After checking with your GP or pharmacist, give antihistamine tablets or syrup, especially if the itching 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.
• 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.

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 do you need it?
If you think your child has tick bite, you should take your child to the GP or hospital emergency department if you can’t remove the tick, or 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.

Treatment for tick bites

• If your child hasn’t had an allergic reaction to a tick bite before, try to remove the tick.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Prevention of tick bites

• Avoid tick-infested areas. This includes coastal bushlands and grasslands, particularly during humid weather and after rainfall.
• If you have to be in these areas, make sure your child is dressed in 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 tick-infested areas.

Diseases 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 do you need 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.

Treatment for wasp stings

• 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 itching caused by wasp stings

• After checking with your GP or pharmacist, give antihistamine tablets or syrup, especially if the itching 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.
• 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 keep children away from 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 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.