Fleas. Those horrible pests we yearn to keep away from our pets, hoping that one day, our cat or dog will not be infested with those blood-sucking minuscule vampires that literally make mine, and may others insides churn.
You can understand how surprised I was when I was told I had the fleas. And you can obviously understand my reaction: "Haha, don't be so silly. Fleas don't bite humans. Stop joking around."
It didn't hit me until I returned to Santiago from the South and those few bites started turning into more and more bites that I came to realise, "perhaps, I have the fleas?" My initial reaction was research! Google is the bible of all knowledge, except that it can sometimes give you an overwhelming amount of information and give you a 1000 explanations for one problem. - So at this point, I was scared. Will I die? Are they in my apartment? Will I ever see my family? (I know, slightly overdramatic). But it didn't help that my I had no one to help me, my insurance was pretty much useless and to be honest, at first, my family hardly believed me. "Are you sure they're flea bites? There's no such thing? Humans and fleas?" my parents moaned.
"Yes mum, I'm a 100% sure." I would reassure her with these words over and over again. It ONLY took them three to four days to search the internet, believe me and also understand how gravely painful these bites were. And that's when they finally decided it's time to go frantic! "Go the the hospital right now! Go, go go!" My father shouted. "It doesn't matter about the money, just go get yourself checked out."
At this point, my dad had me so worked up, I decided I have to go tomorrow as soon as I finish from university. I was panicking, feeling itchy 24/7 and was constantly distracted in all my classes. So I decided to do some market research. (After all I am my father's daughter and anyone close to me would know how much of a market research doctor he is). So I decided to ask around from friends to my international relations co-ordinator and the pharmacy. They pretty much all said the same thing: "It's normal to be bitten by fleas."
I was completely gobsmacked. Never have I ever heard of being bitten by fleas in the U.K. At the beginning I was laughing in disbelief and now I was hearing how being bitten by fleas was as normal here as being bitten by mosquitoes.
I guess at this point my moment of melodrama was a little settled and I decided to wait till the evening and think about what I really wanted to do. After googling symptoms a little more online, many people in my situation advised not see a doctor (it was pricey and they just prescribed antihistamines - you could buy them over the counter). So I decided that before making a hasty (and pricey) decision of taking a trip to the hospital, it'd be better to speak to a pharmacist. So I went around from pharmacy to pharmacy (and there are a tonne of them in Chile) and I finally found a pharmacist who genuinely wanted to help me, and probably felt a little sorry for me. She prescribed me some tablets which is working like a charm and I was advised to take some vitamins. (Fleas like blood that lacks certain vitamins apparently - it's probably because I'm a vegetarian).
At this point I was relieved. And after nearly a week of restless nights, pain and exhaustion I had finally, nearly purged myself of the problem.
The last thing was to buy a flea spray (which again, I never knew existed), spray my whole apartment and wash everything that a flea could hold onto. So far, I'm fine and feeling better than ever!
*****
I don't think I bought any fleas home but I did carry out a routine of killing them just to be on the safe side. Fleas are very tiny and cannot fly, but do jump very high which sometimes makes them impossible to find. They mostly bite humans on the legs, lower back, neck and face. And their bites come most likely in pairs or threes. If you have one bite, be sure to find one 3-4 cms by it.
What to do if you have the fleas.
REMEMBER: fleas cannot stick to humans, so the odds are they're hiding out in your knitwear or your mattress. - anything warm that they can stick to. To avoid the problem wash everything from your duvet to all your clothes, cushions, towels EVERYTHING!
There is no need to call in an exterminator. Buy a pest spray (I used Raid) and spray your house silly! Everything! Literally everything!!!! It's a cheaper alternative and does the trick if the problem has just started and you want a quick solution. It's possible an exterminator can be called for more serious situations.
Bites can show up a few days later but always be on the safe side and take extra precautions such as meds and de-fleaing methods.
Before running off to the nearest doctor (especially if you're in a foreign country), GO TO THE PHARMACIST. They know more than what we give them credit for. If they do recommend any medicine, try it before having to make that horrible trip to the hospital. It might just work in your favour. I'm glad I did this because I saved a tonne of money. My pharmacist knew how bad my bites were and said its possible I had an allergic reaction. If this is the case ask to be given tablets. Cream will only ease the pain for a certain amount of time and you will have to keep reapplying.
What do you do if it's late at night or sunday afternoon and everything's shut? LEMON JUICE! A great alternative to prescribed meds and herbal too! Just squeeze some onto cotton wool and rub over your bites. Helps ease the sting and very cooling. Tea tree shower gel is also a great alternative to use in the shower.
Most importantly, DO NOT ITCH. These bites are far more problematic than mosquito bites. If you itch these, they can lead to severe scarring and infections. Just let nature do the work, and well try stay away from nature too (to avoid the bites at least).
All in all, don't be a silly douche like me and think it's ok to touch every stray dog you see. I feel for them tremendously, but giving them my time of day just got me into more trouble!
