Need medical advice: Infected mosquito bite???

[BrerGnat]

Okay, on Thursday evening, the boys were out riding their tricycles and when we all came back inside, I noticed a small purple-ish pinhead sized spot right in the crook of my arm. It didn't really hurt or anything, but I noticed it, tried to wipe it off, thinking it was a spot of something, and when it didn't come off, I figured I'd gotten bit by something and just forgot about it. It started to itch later that night, and formed into what looks like your standard mosquito bite.

By about noon the next day (Friday), I noticed that it had formed a little pustule (sorry...gross, I know), and was now SUPER itchy and starting to be painful. I tried to just ignore it. Sometime later that day, I absentmindedly scratched it, forgetting about the pustule and I ruptured it by accident! I immediately went and washed it with soap and water and then put some neosporin on it. The pustule re-formed and I was VERY careful to leave it alone, not scratch, etc.

Over the past couple days, the pustule has sort of disappeared to be replaced by a dry scab, but the area surrounding the bite (about the size of a half dollar) is red, and there is a red streak running up my arm (towards my shoulder) that is about 4 inches long. It's very faint, but I can see it. At this point, it is EXTREMELY itchy and the red area surrounding the bite is painful when I touch it (to clean it and stuff), but otherwise I feel fine.

I've never had a mosquito bite turn like this, and I've scratched away at PLENTY of mosquito bites in my life. I'm also fairly confident that it's not a spider bite, as I was just standing around on the pavement, pretty much out in the open, the whole time. I wasn't near any trees, shrubbery, or anywhere that spiders are, and I am SO squeamish about spiders that I would have definitely noticed one on my arm! I was wearing a short sleeved shirt. I also live in an area where, frankly, there aren't really even that many mosquitoes, let alone any other types of flying biting insects, so I'm assuming this is a mosquito bite, but I can't be 100% sure.

Has this ever happened to anyone?

If this is indeed an infected mosquito bite, does it need medical attention or will it get better on its own? It doesn't seem to be getting worse, really. I just ask because I just got done with 7 days worth of antibiotics (I had oral surgery done) and I am really leery of taking excessive antibiotics, so I avoid them if they are not REALLY needed.

Also, I was just doing a google image search and I came across an image of an MRSA skin infection, and one of the images looked EXACTLY like the pustule that formed on my arm! However, my "bite" itches really badly, like a mosquito bite. When I looked it up, MRSA did not list itching as a symptom, so it could not be that, right? I really hope not...

Any advice from the RN's, doctors out there?

What with the holiday tomorrow, the Urgent Care is the LAST place I want to have to go...:(

[Twinsowner]

Sounds like it could be a spider bite. But whatever it is , if you have a red streak running up your arm you should see a doctor. Tommorrow if it sdoesnt look better you should go. Do you have fever? Any other symptoms? And yes Staph and Mrsa are things that could happen from any type of sore. Let us know how it turns out.

[Birnbaum has notin on me]

call a doctor aspa because i had this same situation about three months ago and it turned in to a staff infetion almost like mersa. all in all i was in the hospital for a couple of days. call a doctor immediatly

[Here we go again...]

call a doctor aspa because i had this same situation about three months ago and it turned in to a staff infetion almost like mersa. all in all i was in the hospital for a couple of days. call a doctor immediatly

Sounds like staph to me too. Don't play around with this, if you see a red streak, seek medical attention!!

[jeddalynn]

I got a wasp sting last week and my entire calf started swelling about 24 hours later. I had to go get anti biotics because it was SO swollen and itchy. Apparantly, any time you break the skin, infection is possible, even if its just a little bite.

[merlinmagic4]

Yup, that red streak is the big clue to go see a doctor! I had always been told to watch for that with cuts (and have never seen it). Good luck and let us know what happens.

[BrerGnat]

That's what I was afraid of...

Ugh...I have the WORST luck with stupid stuff like this. I have been in Urgent Care more times this year that in my whole life up to this point.

Thanks guys...wish me luck. :(

[mrsgaribaldi]

Good luck. :pixie::pixie::pixie::pixie:I'm afraid the red streak is an infection though. I hope you can be treated at home with antibiotics. Let us know please

[kakn7294]

I concur! It's time to seek medical attention! Good luck! :pixie: :pixie: :pixie:

[MNNHFLTX]

Sure sounds like an insect bite, although it's hard to imagine that it was from a mosquito. It's good that you're going to the clinic because if you have a red streak going up your arm it could be an infection, as everyone else has said. A staph infection or some other bug maybe, MRSA would be much more uncommon. In any case, it sounds like you don't take antibiotics very often, so I wouldn't worry too much about having to take another round here. Good luck. :)

[BrerGnat]

Thanks all. Because of you guys, I went to Urgent Care, and it was necessary!

The doctor said it is definitely an infected bite. Either mosquito or spider bite. I got an injection of Rocephin at the office and a 10 day prescription for antibiotics. She also did mention MRSA :eek: :eek: :eek: and told me "we're seeing a lot of that" and told me that if I develop a fever over 100, get to the hospital right away! I'm so scared now, so I need lots of pixie dust! This is NOT the time to have to go to the hospital! There would be no one, really, to watch the boys for me...my sister is a teacher and she starts school on Thursday. She's my "go to" when I need someone to take care of the boys.

Let's just hope the antibiotics take care of the infection and it goes away.

[kakn7294]

Glad you got it looked at! More :pixie: that home treatment works and you don't have to end up in the hospital!

[merlinmagic4]

More :pixie: for that infection to clear up quickly!! Hopefully you caught it early enough. Glad you went to the doctor.

[mrsgaribaldi]

Prayers and :pixie::pixie::pixie::pixie:on the way for your speedy recovery.

[Beast_fanatic]

:pixie: on the way! Glad you took everyone's advice (I would have said the same due to the red streak). Hope it heals up with the meds!

[dlpmikki]

Scary stuff. Hope the antibiotics zap the infection!

[DisneyDudet]

The only way to tell if its MRSA is to culture your site. It can be a different, less severe staph infaction that can be cleared up with antibiotics. If your Rocephin and oral abx don't work, I would suggest finding a primary care physician, rather than a clinic, that can follow your progress.

I am glad you got treatment quickly, as with redness that exceeds a few milimeters aroudn the actual wound can be suspicious of infection, no matter what good techniques you use (way to clean so quicky). I would imagine that the scratching, in addition to normal bacteria that lives on the skin might have caused the infection, plus maybe your immune system being a little down since you were sick prior.

I hope things start to get better soon! Don't always jump on the MRSA gun. It is showing up more in hospitals, nursing homes, assisted livings, and other places where there's lots of people constantly there (ie, gyms). It is still pretty uncommon in the general community, but always something to watch!

Feel better, and keep us posted!

[TiggeRia]

Did they culture the site while you were there? there are many organisms out there that are becoming more and more resistant to certain antibiotics, including MRSA. I work in an ER and we always have people come in with that they think is just a spider bite that won't heal, when it is in fact some form of bacteria causing it. Many times they need to actually incise and drain it and we always take a culture. The culture and sensitivity will tell the doctor whether or not the antibiotic they put you on will work on the "infection" you have.

And while MRSA is very common in hospitals, and NH's it is much more prevalent in the community than many people may realize. I make many phone calls a day to people in the public alerting them that their culture came back positive for it. In fact, most direct care health care workers would probably even test positive in a basic screen for it. Most frequently those who have a positive wound culture are placed on a longer course of an antibiotic called Bactrim DS. The big thing is to practice good hygiene-lots of hand washing and especially after touching the wound. And keeping it covered until it heals over is also a good idea.

Just keep an eye on it over the next several days to make sure that it is in fact healing and not worsening. Good luck with it!

[crazypoohbear]

Hey Natalie
How are you feeling?? I hope that the RX is working for you. Keep us posted on.
sending Pixie dust for a quick recovery.
:pixie::pixie::pixie:
Has your oldest started school? Hopefully you can get some rest and heal up faster.

[BrerGnat]

Thanks for all the pixie dust and info everyone! I think I'm getting better!

So, just to answer a few questions that have come up:

1. I think it was a spider bite now. There was just one bite, and it formed a pustule within a day, which apparently does not happen with mosquito bites, but is very common with spider bites, but once the pustule ruptured, it scabbed over and did not produce any more pus, nor did the wound get larger. In fact, the bite itself seemed to get better (scab got smaller and smaller, skin closed up as expected, etc.)

2. There was nothing to "culture" at the time I went to Urgent Care, as by that point, the bite itself had been scabbed over (and it was a tiny scab, about the size of a pinhead) for two days now. It was dry, no pus or anything. The infection was internal by then.

3. In addition to the Rocephin, the doctor DID prescribe BACTRIM DS, for 10 days. This is what I am currently taking. I seem to be tolerating it well, save for some intestinal side effects, which I am willing to put up with.

4. The doctor mentioned MRSA ONLY because spiders, apparently, carry MRSA in addition to a whole host of nasty bacteria, so there is no way of knowing which bacteria was introduced, since the pustule was long gone, and the infection was already raging, so that is why she covered the bases by giving me those antibiotics, and warned me about the possibility. She cautioned me to head to the hospital if a fever developed for this very reason.

I did develop a low grade fever (99.1) and got a bit nervous, and had my mom come over all day yesterday to be on "standby" in case it got higher and I had to go to the hospital, but luckily it came back down, and hasn't gone up again, so I am hoping the antibiotics are doing their job.

The scab fell off this morning on its own and the bite looks good...no signs of pus or broken skin...looks healed. There is still some redness and the streak is still there. That should start to disappear slowly over the next few days.

Oh, and the urgent care I went to is the same as my family practice group, so they had my file and everything. When I go to urgent care, my PCM is alerted that I went in and she usually calls me within a couple days to check up on me, and I always follow up with her. The doctor I saw is part of the group, and I've seen her before, so it's not like I just went to some random place where they don't know me. This all went in my file so my doctor will know about it.

I will keep you all posted on my progress.

THIS IS WHY I HATE SPIDERS!!! NASTY THINGS! :mad::mad::mad::mad:

[BrerGnat]

Has your oldest started school?

No, he starts next Monday. :) I'm sure he's more than ready to go back (more like I'm ready for him to go back). :D

Just kidding...he actually LOVES school, and he's been so bored for the past few weeks. Poor kid. :(

[MNNHFLTX]

Glad the infection looks like it is clearing up, Natalie. :thumbsup: