Georgina asked 5 years ago
Hello,
Yesterday i noticed a lot of red spots on one of my thighs(aprox 30) and a few on my lower leg, at first i thought maybe it is an allergy, we went to sleep at my parents house and then in the morning i noticed a few more on my other leg. When we got home in the evening i caught a flea. Now i am super panicked because we don’t have pets and i don’t know how it bit me in different places(not just at home, it is possible it stayed on me? I read about human fleas), what do i need to do? We have a toddler so i am super freaked out that we can have fleas in our apartament(we live here for 6 years so they can’t be from the previous owner). Thak you!
Adam Retzer Staff answered 5 years ago
Georgina,
It may be a good idea to place some flea traps in your home. Flea traps aren’t that useful for control, but they are handy for identifying infestations and monitoring populations.
Here is a page on how to identify human fleas. Human fleas (P. irritans) are the only species that can survive and reproduce on human blood. This species is fairly uncommon though.
If the fleas you are seeing aren’t human fleas, then they can’t survive or reproduce in your apartment since there is no animal host there.
It’s unlikely that one flea caused all 30 lesions. And fleas don’t typically stay on people. They feed and then leave.
Warm regards,
Adam
Georgina
replied 5 years ago Thank you for your answer Adam,
We live in Romania so here i can’t find flea traps but i tried the lamp dish soap and water one and didn’t catch anything. After i wrote you the first time i caught one more when it was trying to jump on my leg, but i killed it with my finger nails, then we sprayed with deltamethrine in all the apartment, and now i think i saw another bite on my daughter(i am a bit paranoid about insects) If they aren’t human fleas how many days till they die? Thank you!
Georgina
replied 5 years ago I have one more question..is it possible they survived the deltamethrin?
Adam RetzerThey shouldn’t have been able to survive the insecticide. Without pets, the fleas shouldn’t be able to get a foothold in your home regardless. There shouldn’t be immature stages in your home. If an adult hitchhiked on you, it shouldn’t be able to survive longer than around a week.
Georgina
replied 5 years ago I found two in total in our apartment (saturday evening i had the bites, and I caught the second one tuesday morning and sprayed with insecticide immediately). I read the link you gave me and it stated that if we don’t have pets it’s more likely they are human fleas(that is my concern) Is it possible theese 2-3 fleas were able to lay eggs inside the apartment?if so, what precautionary measures can i take? Thank you very much for all your answers!
It is possible they only 2 fleas started an infestation, if they were male and female. Using an insect growth regulator (IGR) indoors can help prevent infestations if you are worried. They last 7 months indoors, stopping eggs and larvae from maturing into adult fleas.
Georgina
replied 5 years ago I sprayed with IGR a week and a half after i killed the second flea,is it enough to spray once, or do i have to repeat it?thank you!
The IGR will last for around 7 months indoors. So you shouldn’t need to repeat the spraying. Keep in mind, the IGR prevents immature stages from becoming adults, but those currently in the environment at the of spraying may be protected. So you may see those emerge as adults. But they should be the last generation.
