AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums The Cayes Ambergris Caye WEAR YOUR SHOES/SANDALS!!!!

Hi RickCheri. Don't panic yet. I'm Megan's father (not Tammi) and maybe I can add some light to this. This morning the first thing she noticed were some bumps and itching on the bottom of her foot. As soon as I looked at it I knew what it was thanks to Abadmonkey's post. Got a hold of a physician I know that is familiar with tropical diseases and had him look to make sure. It was. Megan needs to take Vermox twice a day for three days and this should take care of the problem. This will usually show up first on the sole of your foot 7-10 days after exposure (we have been home 7 days). There will be some reddened bumps that itch. Bumps will connect to form a trail. Usually detached from this "trail" will be a single bump. This is the point of entry. This is a parasite but it is not dangerous. It is thought that most local people probably have this hookworm infection. When we do our medical/dental mission work in Belize, the physicians in our group usually don't bother to treat for this since reinfection rate is so high. From the sole of your foot it ends up in the intestines where it lives long term and is usually not symptomatic although anemia is a common side effect. This was my thirteenth trip to the island so before anyone panicks, I have never seen this before. We also spent time on the mainland at Banana Bank this trip so she did not necessarily contract this on AC. I walked barefoot from Coral Bay Villas up to BC's for Sunday BBQ but will probably be a little more cautious on our next trip in February. We'll keep you posted on treatment results. By the way, I still have No-see-um bites that still itch too.

crazy. i'm barefoot almost the whole time and nothin gets me. guess everyones different, seasons are different...

Is this more prevalent in certain months of the year, or is it a year round thing?

Don't think that's what got me. I believe mine were no see ums, although i'm still not quiet sure what those are and I think Rick thinks I'm making it up...lol....I hate insect repellent on my skin, but will it work against no see ums????

Tammi, KC and all, Here in Cozumel, my family and I do the Vermox treatment every 5 to 6 months,as a preventative measure, not only do we wear sandles, which gives little or no protection to something this small, that can enter your body by way of small cuts or scratches on your feet, but with the large number of stray dogs here in Mexico, fouling the street,s we were told that we could contact the little critters from dust in the air, when sweeping and cleaning the walk and street in front of the house.

Rocio

From what I understand you can get this anytime through-out the year. It is just mainly a pain in the bum to me! I have one more day of meds then HOPEFULLY it will be GONE!!!

Cheri,

Usually, the sand flies only bite at dawn and at dusk for a couple of hours. One thing I have used and it works is baby oil on the lower legs and feet. The little suckers drown in the oil before they can bite.

I call them "teeth that fly". I learned that term in Roatan, Honduras where the "flying teeth" are a huge problem.

It is so bad there, that we have a term for those people standing at the flight counter waiting in line to go home with hundreds of red spots on their legs and ankles. They are furiously scraping the back of one leg with the other leg over and over. The term is "The Roatan Dance"

Jim

Thanks for letting me know they are out in full force on AC! I was eaten alive one night when I was on Sanibel, watching the sun go down. It nearly ruined my vacation it was so bad. The backs of my legs looked like that tiny "bubble wrap" stuff from knees to butt. Without Benadryl I would have gone crazy. I will definitely be applying bug spray and baby oil, and anything else that might work. Any and all suggestions will be heeded!

Kathy

.......and by the way... "Standing in line, scratching the back of one leg with the other" is not what I would have looked like. Dress pulled up... scratching furiously with fingernails or any other sharp object... hyperventilating... to the point of tears! That was me for about a week.

Kathy

Also we have done the Roatan Dance last September. The Sandflys aka Flying Teeth aka Noseeums bit any time of the day at beautiful West Bay Beach even so we had DEET on at all time. We knew about the problem in advance but had no idea how bad this would be. It sure was a nightmare and we still have little white spots on our legs, arms etc. For some reason where these bites where our skin does not tan anymore. We call them travel scars.