I’m a pest expert – here’s the £4 cure you’ll already have at home to help heal blood-sucking Tabanidae bites
A PEST expert has shared his top tips for dealing with blood-sucking Tabanidae bites this summer.
The ‘Dracula’ bugs – known commonly as Horseflies – are becoming rampant in UK gardens, and their stings and bites have the potential to prove fatal.
The British Pest Control Association puts the blood-sucking flying bugs in its “Top Ten Stings and Bites to Avoid List”.
Now Stuart Halliday, 42, owner of Kill and Cure Pest Control, has explained why the bites are so dangerous.
Speaking to The Sun, he said: “The bites can be quite nasty.
“They want to drink your blood because they need it to reproduce – but because of how they work when they bite, you also get injected with a mixture of their vomit and excrement with the bite.
“It means the bites can cause cellulitis, blood infections and even anaphylaxis.”
However, Mr Halliday has an easy £4 hack, using an item most households already have, to stop the painful bite.
He explained: “My old trick is to use a Calpol syringe that comes in the pack with kids’ medicine.
“They are perfect because you put the little blunt hole over the bite, push down hard and then pull up.
“You’ll then see the venom come out of the bite.
“Then give it a good wash with an alcohol wipe and let nature do its thing.
“If your arm starts to swell up then take an antihistamine and the red colour should start to dissipate.
“If it gets worse and starts to spread towards veins then you should of course go to the doctors and get checked for infection.”
Although the extreme side-effects of the bites are rare – they have led to deaths in the past.
In 2013, former rugby player and father-of-four Andy Batty, from Brixham in Devon, died aged 48 after suffering a massive allergic reaction to a horsefly bite.
He died within seconds of being bitten after suffering anapyhlactic shock, paramedics revealed.
The NHS recommends: “See your GP if you have symptoms of an infection, such as pus or increasing pain, redness and swelling.”