.Mites may be to blame for mystery bug bites

By Kevin Roy

August 13, 2007 - There is a possible new bug invasion in the Chicago area. It is a bug that may be invisible to the naked eye and has a bite that produces red welts. Health experts say there may already be hundreds of cases. The bug that may be causing this outbreak is called the itch mite.

Another biting bug we should worry about in the thick of summer? Sounds a lot like West Nile. But there are some key differences. Whatever is causing this isn't making people terribly sick. But it is making them itch all over. And it isn't pretty.

They're red and itchy. Some swell up and look like pimples. These mystery bites have popped up on hundreds of people in the Chicago region since last week, health officials say.

Michael Gustaitis lives in the city.

"The ones on my back, really big and swollen, just wasn't normal. My personal physician said you should get into an emergency room," said Michael Gustaitis, bite victim.

At the Resurrection Hospital ER Monday night, ER doctor Rob Rifenburg showed ABC7 his mite bites, which he thinks he picked up at a park in LaGrange.

"The different thing about this is you don't feel yourself getting bit or stung," said Dr. Rob Rifenburg, bite victim.

Dozens of patients have come to the Resurrection ER -- hundreds more at hospitals across the region -- all wondering, what's causing it?

The Illinois Department of Public Health suspects it is the oak leaf itch mite, first seen in Kansas and Nebraska in 2004.

You can't see them with the naked eye. And you won't feel them biting. But, 10 to 16 hours later, your back, neck, shoulders and arms may be filled with itchy red welts.

"We have received calls from Chicago, DuPage County, Cook County, from emergency departments as well as physician practices. My guess would be that there's hundreds of people that have reported bites and we're looking into these more carefully at this point," said Dr. Craig Conover, Illinois Department of Public Health.

Dr. Conover says, while they are still trying to pinpoint the exact cause, most who have been bitten have been outside near oak trees, where the mites live.

Bob and Lois Borgi spent all day Saturday under an oak tree in Des Plaines.

"We just all got a little alarmed because we weren't sure what it was. We had two of our friends went to the hospital and the hospital told them they didn't know what it was," said Bob Borgi, bite victim.

If you think you have been bitten, doctors say try not to scratch. Some people develop secondary infections because of scratching too hard. Also, you can treat it with benadryl or anti-itch medications. They should go away in about a week.

Insect repellent with DEET is supposed to help, but may not give 100 percent protection.

I found this here: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=local&id=5565531

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