lavender's green Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 (edited) 7 year old came home from a camping trip with what we thought were mosquito bites all over his body. On closer examination they look a lot smaller than typical mosquito bites, and his dad and brother each got maybe one bite. They're also under his clothes, including places like his hips, under his underwear band. He wasn't undressed at any point (very short overnight trip). I think they look like chickenpox, though he's not as badly covered as a lot of the google pictures. He has no fever, but he does have a mild sore throat and some chest pain. He can't tell if the chest pain is from his muscles or his airways. He's been vaccinated according to the normal schedule. What does the hive think? UPDATE: Thanks everyone for taking the time to respond. I really appreciate all your ideas. He woke up seeming more sick, so we took him to the doctor, who says it looks like bug bites plus a cold, and possibly the start of a more serious virus, but not necessarily. I felt a little silly dragging him to the doctor over bug bites, but I've never dealt with chiggers despite extensive camping experience (I think most of my camping was actually in one of the few areas that doesn't get chiggers, go figure). Edited September 24, 2018 by lavender's green Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 I had a friend whose young child had something similar. The doctor concluded virus caused. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Marmalade Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 Where was he camping? Flooding at the end of August has unleashed the worst mosquitoes I've ever seen here in Wisconsin. I'm not exaggerating- we go camping and have seen bad mosquito times before. This is seriously something else! Bug spray doesn't even help- and they're biting through layers of clothing in impossible ways. A friend's son was helping his uncle with firewood for a few hours and was literally bit over 100 times. His mom took a picture, and it looked exactly like chickenpox. Once mosquito bites finish that initial swelling up, they frequently diminish to looking more like a poc-mark than a pink and puffy mosquito bite. One trip to my apple tree to pick a bowl full of apples and I probably had 20 bites on my legs and feet alone- and I was wearing jeans, wool socks and athletic shoes. Bites. In. My. Shoes. Also, if he actually received that many mosquito bites, he could be having an allergic reaction. Can you give him some benadryl or other allergy med and see if he finds relief? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storygirl Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 (edited) Chicken pox look different than mosquito bites, to me. The pox look more pimply, in that they are a smaller dome shape, and the dome can look almost translucent, so that you can see a yellowy liquid inside. It's been many years since I had them myself, but that is what I remember. I was 11 when I got them, and at first I thought it was a weird pimple. One of my children did get a weird bite that looked more like a pox -- raised and bubble-ish and golden -- when we were vacationing, once. I thought it was probably a spider bite or an unusual insect bite, and it cleared up on it's own. She only had an isolated bite, or maybe two. So I think some bug bites can look like that. If it is the chicken pox, it could be a mild case, in which case there might be only a few spots. It doesn't always cover the entire body in a giant rash. I say, call the doctor. Edited September 23, 2018 by Storygirl 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender's green Posted September 23, 2018 Author Share Posted September 23, 2018 26 minutes ago, Lady Marmalade said: Where was he camping? Flooding at the end of August has unleashed the worst mosquitoes I've ever seen here in Wisconsin. I'm not exaggerating- we go camping and have seen bad mosquito times before. This is seriously something else! Bug spray doesn't even help- and they're biting through layers of clothing in impossible ways. A friend's son was helping his uncle with firewood for a few hours and was literally bit over 100 times. His mom took a picture, and it looked exactly like chickenpox. Once mosquito bites finish that initial swelling up, they frequently diminish to looking more like a poc-mark than a pink and puffy mosquito bite. One trip to my apple tree to pick a bowl full of apples and I probably had 20 bites on my legs and feet alone- and I was wearing jeans, wool socks and athletic shoes. Bites. In. My. Shoes. Also, if he actually received that many mosquito bites, he could be having an allergic reaction. Can you give him some benadryl or other allergy med and see if he finds relief? It's possible, which is why I'm posting here rather than rescheduling my whole week. ? I just don't think it looks like his usual bug bite profile. He takes after DH's side and gets enormous swellings from mosquito bites that take a while to cool down (more like the size of my bee stings). Also, DH, who is normally a mosquito magnet, was with him, and wasn't particularly bothered by bugs. It's possible that he didn't get sprayed well, or it got washed off (I'm told he accidentally ran into the lake, not all the way, but maybe enough to affect the spray on his legs). Anyway, it's definitely not an allergic reaction. These are puny compared with his normal mosquito bites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender's green Posted September 23, 2018 Author Share Posted September 23, 2018 14 minutes ago, Storygirl said: Chicken pox look different than mosquito bites, to me. The pox look more pimply, in that they are a smaller dome shape, and the dome can look almost translucent, so that you can see a yellowy liquid inside. It's been many years since I had them myself, but that is what I remember. I was 11 when I got them, and at first I thought it was a weird pimple. One of my children did get a weird bite that looked more like a pox -- raised and bubble-ish and golden -- when we were vacationing, once. I thought it was probably a spider bite or an unusual insect bite, and it cleared up on it's own. She only had an isolated bite, or maybe two. So I think some bug bites can look like that. If it is the chicken pox, it could be a mild case, in which case there might be only a few spots. It doesn't always cover the entire body in a giant rash. I say, call the doctor. This is what they looks like. Will call doctor in the morning. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 I’m guessing chiggers. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skippy Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 I was thinking chiggers, also. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acorn Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 The under elastic bands makes me suspect chiggers. I am super allergic to chiggers. I will get many quarter size bumps while dh gets 2 tiny pencil point size bumps. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender's green Posted September 23, 2018 Author Share Posted September 23, 2018 I have no experience with chiggers, so I never even thought of that. Hopefully that's all it is! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethben Posted September 24, 2018 Share Posted September 24, 2018 My dd had a rash like that once after playing in grass about this time of year. Small bumps all over. Her face even swelled with the rash. We tried everything—Benadryl, steroids, and wound up with scabie medication. They went away after that but it could have also been that the whatever she had ran it’s course. Don’t know what it was. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted September 24, 2018 Share Posted September 24, 2018 Maybe heat rash? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted September 24, 2018 Share Posted September 24, 2018 Are they itchy? Hives? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom@shiloh Posted September 24, 2018 Share Posted September 24, 2018 Are bed bugs a possibility? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender's green Posted September 24, 2018 Author Share Posted September 24, 2018 Not heat rash - it was in the 60s. They don't look like my experience with hives, but maybe I just haven't seen that type...I'll watch for other signs. I doubt it's bed bugs, at least not from this camping trip. They used our own tent and everyday bedding (this was not a cabin and cot type of camp). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted September 24, 2018 Share Posted September 24, 2018 (edited) This sounds like chigger bites. It's the season for chiggers. They start as tiny red dots and for me never get really bothersome - but two people in our family get a strong reaction to chigger bites; they develop large inflamed welts that are extremely itchy and the ooze fluid. Edited September 24, 2018 by regentrude 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted September 24, 2018 Share Posted September 24, 2018 Are they itchy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted September 24, 2018 Share Posted September 24, 2018 13 hours ago, lavender's green said: I have no experience with chiggers, so I never even thought of that. Hopefully that's all it is! My 6 year old reacts strongly reacts to bug bites and got chiggers recently. I couldn’t figure out what in the world he had gotten into because his siblings were fine, but the neighbor boy got them too. I found a cream called ChiggerX (spelling may be off but it’s close) that helped with the itching, it came from Kroger or Walgreens. The bites didn’t bother him much at first but after a day or two they were driving him crazy. I believe it took about a week to clear completely. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender's green Posted September 24, 2018 Author Share Posted September 24, 2018 Update in OP. Thanks so much everyone! Never would have thought of chiggers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmasc Posted September 24, 2018 Share Posted September 24, 2018 Your poor DS...chiggers are truly miserable. DH’s family lives in the woods somewhere that has boatloads of them. Sometimes the kids get them (and us!) and they are so intensely itchy. People think we’re crazy, but DH and I can actually see them and find them on the kids. You need a high power flashlight and possibly a magnifying glass. Look at several (or all) of the bumps because not all bumps will have a chigger present. If you find one, it will be extremely tiny and bright orange. We then can remove the chigger. One year my DS at about age 6 or 7 got so many bites that he was just miserable. In laws recommended a bleach bath for him which I was very much opposed to. After two days of relentless itching, I gave in and let him have a bath with a tiny amount of bleach. It actually did help. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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