My 13 month old son has twice in the last week been bitten/stung by fire ants. The first time he got about 20 bites, an hour later his armpits and groin were red and he had hives around his chest. Today he got a few bites on one foot and has had a stronger reaction with hives and redness further up on his neck and head. It takes about an hour for the hives to show up.
He has been stung by a bee once on his thumb without any noticeable reaction anywhere, even at the site of the sting.
Does anyone have experience/information with sensitivity to ant bites? If a person is sensitive to ants does that correlate to bee or wasp venom also? Sensitivity increase, decrease or stay the same?
can't answer the main question, but I hope you are keeping some liquid benadryl around and putting it into him when he gets the ant bites. Worth talking to your doc about also. A systemic reaction can be deadly, fast.
Ants carry a different concoction of venom than honeybees. Call an allergist and ask about the differences. Don't waste time, do it NOW. A bad anaphylactic reaction can be fatal in less than 30 minutes, and can come from either type of venom.
Thank you both for the quick replies! He took some Claritin and that has helped. I think we're going to the Allergist as soon as possible.
Andy,
His symptoms sound like the start of a systemic reaction that did not fully progress. Get a children's epipen and some children's liquid Benadryl and have them ready. Use the children's benadryl right away if he gets bit again by the fire ants. It will slow down the reaction if he has one and it will give you time to get help. The epi is a last resort. If he gets bit, I recommend you take him to the hospital but do not check in. Just have him there ready if he starts to have a reaction. It will save you from the hospital bills if there is no reaction and at the same time protect him if he does.
I hate to say this but I recommend that you go to Lowes and get bag of the lawn treatment that kills the bugs for a whole season. Bayer makes one. It is a granule. Talk to your neighbors on both sides of you about doing the same and it will get rid of the ant problem. I and my neighbors did it before I got the bees and even after several years of no treatments we still do not have an ant problem. It is a systemic pesticide.
Jim
First I need to say I agree with the benadryl and epipen suggestions.
When I was 14 and we had just started with bees, I was stung several separate times then my whole forearm swelled up for days. After that I avoided being stung for close to 35 years.
I moved to Florida in the 70's and was eaten alive by the Argentine fireants that dominated. I would have dozens of pustules on my arms. The fireants are impossible to avoid because they love flowerpots. Flowerpots are a heating machine for them and they haul the larvae up and down below ground in response to the temperature. The reason they build hills.
Going back home I discovered the last hive of bees in the barn, fooling with them I was stung, and to my surprise I didn't swell up, it felt more like a pinch, and when it did hurt it was for a few minutes. I have wondered ever since if my exposure to the fireants didn't allow me to develop a tolerance to the bee venom.
I too had a run to the ER after getting bee stings when I had the shingles. The doc told me to get rid of the bees and I told him right quick a bee jacket was in my future. We keep epi pens around in case. I got stung an hour ago but no problem. Where I work if we get an insect bite we must go to the fire or rescue and wait in the parking lot for 20 minutes just in case.
Thank you all for the replies.
Jim, we are taking him to an allergist next week, they are going to test his blood. Have the benadryl now and will get an EPI pen also. I think I'll wait to see exactly how allergic the Doc says he is before I use the poison in the yard, but I'll look for it next time I'm at Lowes. Heck, the second incident was at the park.
Hope you decide to treat the yard. No sense taking a chance with a kid that young. A toddler can get bit several times before you know it.
Andy,
One good thing about that stuff is that it is a crystal that is down in the dirt. As long as you do not put it around the hives where your bees end up walking, it will not bother them. If you were up north where they lots of dandelion flowers it might be different situation. It definitely works.
Jim