What fleas do humans have and how dangerous are their bites?

A flea is an insect that can parasitize on almost any warm-blooded. Many species are often not examined by saturation sources and parasitize those who are closer at the time of hunger.

Of course, there are fleas that feed exclusively on the blood of their natural "owners", for example, dog - they bite mainly dogs, as well as their immediate relatives. A person’s fleas appear by chance when he is in close proximity to a hungry bloodsucker.

But in nature, there is also a species of parasites, for which people are the most preferred source of food. These insects are somewhat different from their counterparts in the structure of the body, but the way of life is almost the same.

Human Flea Characteristics

The human flea differs from its immediate family in large sizes - the length of its body is on average 3 mm. But such impressive dimensions do not prevent her from jumping to a distance of about 50 cm. This insect has no wings, the back is painted in dark brown. The body of a human flea is slightly flattened on the sides, due to which it can move pretty quickly in the hair and not be caught or crushed when combing a bite.

Fleas are so rapidly leaving their master’s body that it is impossible to capture the moment of jumping with the naked eye. Only the presence of some small grain is visible and in an instant it is no longer there.

For a human flea, the main source of saturation is precisely human blood, but in the absence of a host, this insect can also parasitize on domestic animals.

Quite often the question is - do fleas live on a person? In fact, these insects spend most of their lives in secluded places, and people are attacked only in order to get enough. Moreover, their habitats will always be located in close proximity to the location of the person. By arranging their nests in nooks and crannies, insects reproduce there, and their larvae during the development period feed on decaying waste products or vital products of adults.

With the onset of hunger, fleas bite a person, suck blood from a blood vessel, completely immersing their head in the skin, after which they quickly leave the body of their master.

On a note! Unlike the bites of other blood-sucking parasites, flea fleas are quite painful. But these insects due to the structure of their bodies are so invulnerable that it is almost impossible to crush them with fingers. Therefore, they are not particularly worried that they do not have analgesic enzymes.

During its life, which lasts several months, one flea becomes a parent for 500 larvae, and its relatives in the second and third tribe can have several tens of thousands. By their universality, human parasites are similar to other brethren - they can bite all warm-blooded ones. Therefore, having seen a flea on your body, it is impossible to establish what kind it belongs to.

All about flea bites

As mentioned earlier, other fleas can attack a person.Among 1500 species, several main ones can be distinguished:

• feline - bite a person most often;
• canine - as the dog is the main four-legged friend and is always next to its owner;
• rat - rarely attack in a metropolis, often in the outback;
• rabbit - as a rule, attack a person in the wild.

Moreover, these individuals bite people when their natural hosts are not nearby. For example, rabbit fleas very often attack hunters who get too close to the hole of a wild rabbit. At the same time, the hunters themselves claim that they became victims of earthen fleas, but in fact this is impossible, since this species of insects parasitizes only on the green parts of plants. And they are simply unable to bite through the skin of warm-blooded animals due to the special structure of the oral apparatus.

On a note! The most painful are flea bites that parasitize on large herbivores. As the victims testify, a bite of a moose flea causes more discomfort than a bite of a bee.

Signs and consequences of flea bites

The danger of fleas to humans lies in the response of the body to parasite bites. If the insect made one or two punctures in order to get enough, of course, in this case no consequences would have to be expected. But when the attacks are systematic and are massive, the body can respond as follows:

• enlarged lymph nodes;
• fever;
• an allergy that can cause serious swelling;
• rashes around the affected area.

As a rule, after an attack of bloodsuckers, itching, sometimes pain, occurs at the site of the lesion.

Important! In no case should you comb the places of bites, since an infection can be brought into an open wound, as a result of which, the affected areas of the body will begin to fester and become inflamed. And in an advanced state, such pustular inflammations often develop into pyoderma and ulcers.

The greatest discomfort for flea bites is given to children - their sleep is disturbed, and delicate skin reacts much more strongly than adult skin. But in fact, the above symptoms are not the worst thing that can happen after an attack of parasites.

Fleas - carriers of dangerous diseases

The main danger of fleas to human health lies in the fact that these insects can provoke the appearance of such deadly diseases as:

• plague;
• encephalitis;
• trypanosomiasis;
• anthrax;
• relapsing fever and typhus.

And, unfortunately, this is not a complete list. It can be extended by infectious diseases - salmonellosis, fungal diseases, listeriosis.

On a note! Of course, it is impossible to say with certainty that after the first bite of a flea one of these problems will arise. However, the probability is small, but it exists.

In addition, these parasites are able to carry helminth eggs, which can penetrate the body not only after a flea bite. If you catch a bloodsucker on your body, crush it and, without washing your hands, start eating, then you can easily make eggs of roundworm, flukes, chains and other worms.

Caution - Children!

Not only children's skin, but also the body itself reacts to flea bites more intensively. This is manifested in the following symptoms:

• migraine;
• intense rash;
• swelling in the affected area;
• significant enlargement of the lymph nodes;
• neuralgia;
• nervous disorders.

Flea bites are especially dangerous for children who have not been vaccinated. Often, standard vaccines quite effectively protect the human body, but the smallest, not having received this protection, are in the main risk group.

As for the period of pregnancy, there is also a certain danger. The reaction of the future mother's body may be insignificant, but the consequences for the fetus may not be the most favorable. Therefore, pregnant women need to properly protect themselves from encounters with these bloodsuckers.

You can get more information about which fleas are dangerous for humans, how to recognize them and with what methods to alleviate the condition after their bites: What fleas parasitize humans and how to cure the bites of these insects?