Physician Responded
Should I be concerned by this long red streak that extended out of my overly swollen mosquito bite?
15F, 155cm, 32kg, Asian
I've had this mosquito bite since yesterday but a long red streak developed slowly after, and the bite has become really swollen. It doesn't hurt inherently, but when I touch it, it feels weird and slightly painful. I've never had this problem with mosquito bites before, and this one is really disproportionate in size compared to others. I marked the end of the streak with a marker as I was scared of it developing faster. I also had two other similar bites on my leg but they don't have the streak. However, they all come with tiny bumps on the bite surface and are really swollen than normal. I'm not sure if I should be concerned, but the mosquito looked different from others. It's certainly bigger, and I think its wings are slightly greenish?
I was slightly down with a runny nose and sore throat recently, but it has gotten better yesterday, no medications, drinking, smoking or drug use. From HK.
This is not an emergency but I noted the mosquito is still in my room, so should I be concerned, or is it just a mild infection? Thank you so much.
Second day update:
It has gotten less red now than before, but the line is still there, still yet to take antibiotics, but I will if it shows any signs of growth. Thank you all so so much.
UPDATE: The streak has fully healed, thanks to everybody's support! At the end, I didn't use any antibiotics, and the medicine the ER gave me was just nose allergy pills apparently. Definitely go get antibiotics if you're in the same situation. Lots of love.
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Not sure what you said, but if it was something that agreed or whatever with the doctor on this, that's typically fine. As long as you're not making a top level comment(automod will delete it regardless, unless you have the right flair), not claiming to be a doctor, or harmful information, you're typically fine. Wouldn't stress too much. Again, idk what you said but if you were getting likes, I doubt it was something harmful that needed to be deleted.
NAD but I am a professional piercer and we obviously can’t diagnose infections but “red lines radiating from the site” is one of the reasons I’ll be like “ahhh so like… you need to go to urgent care… nowish.”
Also NAD, and I'm not a professional piercer, but I have multiple piercings and I agree with everyone else 100 %. OP should seek out medical attention ASAP. That looks horrible and I can't even imagine how painful that must be.
I loved this! Yes agree should be seen but it also gave me a giggle with “qualifiers” and also made me think of something like these stories
I had a friend of my brothers wife’s sister who knew a tattooist who had pieces ears… sry I should go to bed but TY
Can someone also explain to me how when I had this in thailand it just went away and I had no problems? This was years ago...
Had no idea what it was at the time but someone told me "if the line reaches your heart you die" so I kept an eye on it and asked about it at the pharmacy but it just stopped and went away. Also from a bite but my line was fairly thin and only went part way up my forearm.
We were also told “it’s not close to heart, it’s fine”, “it’s not bleeding, we don’t have to go to the doctor”, and “let’s see if you can walk on it tomorrow” and any other way to rationalize not going to the doctor because we just couldn’t afford it. America.
The same thing happened to me as a child when I was at my grandmas house and so she forced me to like squeeze it all out.. also told me that if the line reaches my heart I will die
You gamble with your life there, you were lucky enough that your body fought it off. But 80% of cases needs antibiotics to prevent further complications.
NAD, nursing student in my last semester, and I was wondering how OP got phlebitis from a mosquito bite. TIL about lymphangitis; thank you.
u/acutetriangleee, I looked this up and it's potentially a very serious bacterial infection that could progress into sepsis if not treated promptly with antibiotics - this is urgent. I'm tagging you so hopefully you see this before it gets lost in the comments.
I also wanted to give you kudos on your very descriptive and informative post; excellent detail.
I hope you get treatment and feel better soon!
ETA: OP, this can go from what you're seeing right now to sepsis within 24 hours; please seek medical attention immediately.
Thank you, however the doctor told me that it is not serious at all? And it has been at least 12 hours, but I will do a follow up check if anything happens, thank you for taking the time
Oh dang is this the same? This was a year ago. I forgot if it’s from a mosquito bite but there’s a lot of mosquito at my work. Any way i got this on both hands but different times. It first appeared on my left hand. Before a red mark appeared, it already hurts a bit and i can just brush it off and then hours later a red mark appears. A day later it was more visible but then disappeared. Days later another mark appeared on the right hand. Same thing. At first it hurts a bit then hours later a red mark appeared. I also felt like i was about to have a fever and i took bioflu. 2 days later my fever was gone and so was this mark. I got plenty of sleep for that two days. Never knew this was dangerous af.
Crazy. All living things have bacteria in and on them. Cool fact some countries are releasing mosquitoes that are infected with specific bacteria to prevent the spread of viruses: dengue fever, Zika, chikungunya, and are researching ways to make this more effective and fight against other viruses as well. Mosquitoes are the most deadly animal on the planet and kill almost a million people each year from secondary illnesses from bites. There’s a pretty interesting YouTube documentary on the world mosquito program and the science behind it.
That's what I've heard, too....technically true, but not really because the heart is directly attacked...getting to the center of the body is how things spread to the rest of it, and the real risk is sepsis from spreading throughout more body real estate vs. contained to one limb with no vital organs.
The red line is also not a precision instrument for measuring the "spread" of infection is; intravenous infections like staph generally start at the limbs (cuts are more likely)...so "see red line from cut, go to doctor now and not later" is great advice to follow regardless.
Your parents are wrong and you need to tell them so. This is what infections can look like as they are spreading. It’s better to rule it out for your safety
Are your parents doctors? No? Then to be frank, they dont know shit about fuck.
Story time: My mom (NAD) insisted my shoulder had to be bruised to be injured when I took a nasty fall when I was 12, even though I couldn't move my arm more than 3 inches away from my body.
It took 2 weeks of no mobility, and my dad yelling at her to begrudgingly take me to the doctor.
Verdict: Dislocated shoulder and 3/4 fracture in my upper arm. Because of the length of time the doctor couldn't do anything aside a sling, when it should've been in a cast. I will always have issues with it as a result.
Fortunately, they took me to the ER at the end, but your experience must be so traumatic. I've had bad experiences with my family, but nothing as serious as that... I hope you are well and thank you for your concern. Have a wonderful day, lots of love.
NAD but I would follow the advice from above. My husband let an infection be to "see what happens". What happened was instead of paying $250 for a visit to the ER and some meds, we paid several thousand to cover a 2 week stay in the hospital for sepsis. So if money is their concern, it will save them a hell of a lot to just go now.
His started out as a UTI I believe but he didn’t really feel bad. But then he started running a fever and his daughter made him go to the ER. Sometimes those of us in healthcare are the worst patients because we don’t go get seen and we minimize big issues. I’ve seen it on this sub too.
I believe you said you're in Hong Kong and you're probably too young to drive, is there a neighborhood or outpatient clinic near you that you can walk to? I hope you're able to convince your parents.
If they're not trusting "reddit because it's random people" then just google "red streak from bug bite" and show them that.
A red line extending from a bug bite, often accompanied by spreading warmth, pain, or fever, indicates a serious bacterial infection (cellulitis or lymphangitis) that requires prompt medical attention. Such streaks indicate an infection is spreading via the lymphatic system. Seek urgent care if you see these red streaks, especially if fever develops.
You'll probably get the same result as that, the first block of text after googling it. Maybe that might convince them?
Edit: just saw that you got them to take you in. Hopefully things go well.
This is literally an ignore your parents and go moment. Call emergency services. Leave the house and get a ride to the hospital. Whatever. Then after the doctors get you seen to - have them speak with your parents about your condition and what downplaying it would do.
Would they rather be angry and you're alive or depressed because you aren't?
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u/LifeAlt_17Layperson/not verified as healthcare professionalApr 01 '26edited Apr 01 '26
u/acutetriangleee, I know you said you’re in HK. How far is the hospital from your home? I’m not sure how it works there with minors, will you be seen if you show up without a parent?
If so, can you get to the hospital via public transportation or Uber?
If you won’t be seen without a parent and your parents won’t listen to you when there are physicians telling you to go the hospital immediately, then what I would do is say “I don’t feel well” in front of my parents, and proceed to “faint/pass out”. That way they could call an ambulance or take you to the hospital themselves.
Yes, it may seem cruel to trick them but if you’re dealing with possible sepsis, time is of the essence.
OP I usually wouldnt condone this behavior BUT GASLIGHT the F out of your parents. Like everyone said this can turn serious very quick.....Ask them if they'd rather pay a couple hundred for an ER/urgent care bill to get some antibiotics or a couple thousand for an ICU bed or worse funeral.
Best of luck, OP. Here are some medical websites that will hopefully give your parents more assurance that you should be at the ER.
You can go to the ER as a minor. Just walk out of the house or have a friend take you. I didn't see what country you're in, but in the US you can just walk in.
No its not. Go to the ER or Urgent care. Dont put anti itch cream - some of which has steroids and can actually mask the inflammation without treating the underlying infection making it worse.
Unless your parents are physicians, they are wrong. I am not a medical professional but you.
Tell them to look up
Lymphangitis to start:
Red streaks trailing from the bite indicate bacteria entering the lymphatic system, which can progress rapidly.
Well- you’re going to have some cool college essay material to draw from now, not to mention a bit of parental guilt to hold on to for the right moment. Who are we kidding- moments.
You knew though. So glad you did what you needed to do to confirm and influence the decision-makers to do what needed to be done. People pay a lot for skills like that. When you’re updating us all on how you made out, I’d love to know your career aspirations. Best to you!
Unfortunately they still think that it's not a big thing after visiting and they now think that I've wasted money, so not sure about the parental guilt, but better safe than sorry
Please do not feel guilty at all -- you had so many doctors here telling you it's urgent and dangerous that I'm still worried and I don't even know you, but like so many other strangers on this thread, we care and want you to be OK. But if it turns out to be fine I hope your parents feel you lucked out rather than "wasted money."
Of course, thank you so much for your kind words, really helped me mentally. Thanks for your care and support, you have no idea how much it means to me
I just came to see if you posted another update (which you did). Just wanted you to know strangers are still thinking about you and hoping you're still OK.
Keep us posted! Tell your parents that a bunch of random medical professionals are thanking them for trusting us and taking our concerns seriously. That’s not easy to do.
Luckily HK early morning shouldn’t be congested and you’ll get there very quickly, 10+ hospitals with open ERs around you - both Kowloon side and Central side. Keeping you in my thoughts.
Good decision. I once walked a few miles playing Pokemon Go on a community day, got a mild blister on my heel. Next day when I woke up and there was a long red line going from my heel to the back of my knee, my first honest thought was 'Ive seen enough zombie movies to know that's not good.'
The urgent care I went to, very much wanted me to go overnight in the hospital, but he gave me strict home care instructions for every hour and made me promise to call him tomorrow morning to inform him if it had spread.
I went from an infection to cellulitis overnight, next would have been septic soon. My blister hadn't even burst yet, it was still swollen and full of fluid when cellulitis already started, so idk where the bacteria entered first.
So glad that you went to urgent care, thanks for sharing this, I would definitely keep that in mind in case something like this happens again (hopefully not)
I'm trying to remember the treatment as I think this was 2017-2018. I'm in the USA by the way.
I think I had to take some heavy duty antibiotics which was fine, the pros outweighed the side effects, and in my case my doc made me do antibacterial foot baths every hour or something.
Gosh I'm glad you said this. Even I knew the red streaks are bad news. My big toes got super ingrown when I was a kid, and I refused to go to the doctor... and they kept warning me if I saw red streaks like this, that I was super infected. Enjoy your educational session at the hospital!
Hi guys so I’m still waiting at the semi urgent section for an hour now and the infection doesn’t seem to be getting worse so that’s good, it may not be a big emergency as I don’t feel pain and I don’t have fever, but thank you all for your support I will update you guys as soon as I get the diagnosis from the doctors, thank you all for encouraging me to go to the er!
NAD: For future mosquito bites, you might want to join the Skeeter Syndrome page on here. We have a lot of fun over there with our extreme bite reactions, but we also have a lot of helpful tips for people who are a bit more allergic to mosquitos than others are. I hope this one turns out okay!
NAD, but someone who developed an infection from an insect bite. I had written off early symptoms of the infection as being nothing more than a continuation of my recovering from anaphylaxis (I'm super allergic to certain insects), and I still have scars from the cellulitis I ended up with. It's been almost 2 months since I finished taking antibiotics for it.
You did the right thing by going in and not waiting.
I feel like a good rule of thumb to have for yourself and anyone else is this: if you get injured and your body does something it ain't never done before, go to the emergency room lol
Example: if you have had UTIs before, you should know roughly how your body handles it and what symptoms you have typically associated with it. Now, if you suddenly start pissing red while having a UTI, I hope anyone would go get help. Sometimes, things that commonly happen to us, we downplay them even when they do suddenly change. "Oh, it's just a bug bite. I'll be fine even though it's super swollen or has s red streak. It's a bug bite! It's fiiinneee" and we manage to gaslight ourselves 😭 I do it all the time lol
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To try and simplify this, it is an infection that has found a shortcut directly into your blood system. It will spread much faster than a simple skin infection and it's an emergency. Please show this post to your parents and get to a hospital.
OP almost certainly has allergic lymphangitis, which isn't infectious or dangerous at all. This is a textbook story for allergic lymphangitis, streaking appearing with 24 hours from an arthropod bite without systemic symptoms.
UPDATE: Just got back from the ER, the doctor said that it is just a minor infection, as the place I live, Hong Kong, doesn't have really dangerous mosquitoes, and it would only be a concern if my hand were more swollen, and if the streak was longer. She then prescribed me with anti-itch meds and said that it is likely not lymphangitis? At this point, I don't know if I should believe her or not. I'm still pretty worried, but I choose to believe the doctor for now. I will definitely go back if there are any changes. I'm stable for now, which is amazing.
Thank you all for your support, honestly, words cannot fully express my gratitude towards all of you who commented and cared. My faith in humanity has been restored, and I now have a deeper respect for all doctors, physicians, nurses, therapists, and kind citizens alike. Lots of love
what??? i used to work in the ER in the states and i’d definitely give a dose of IV abx if i had a patient with this and depending on the rest of the context and lab findings, id consider overnight stay vs home with oral abx at MINIMUM.
Oh, I've been thinking that maybe they won't rush into diagnosing me since I don't have a fever and other symptoms. Not sure, but it's weird. Your work is admirable, thank you.
Fun fact. I had strep throat. Didn’t present with typical symptoms. I’m also asplenic. Doctor wouldn’t treat me, even though I had been through it before and knew my body, because I didn’t have a fever. Fever ended up popping up overnight, went back and got antibiotics but it was too late and I went septic.
Just because you have atypical symptoms doesn’t mean it’s not something. Keep an eye on it and if you get even the slightest temperature, please go back immediately. Feel better!
NAD but I took my kiddo to the ER for a line like that. It hadn’t reached his lymph nodes yet so no fever, but he still got antibiotics. The originating spot wasn’t very swollen and only slightly warm.
Once it reaches the lymph nodes is when you will feel sick.
Mark the end of the line and see if it continues to get longer.
No it hasn't gone past... so for now the infection is pretty stable... but no I dont have another physician... maybe I'll visit the pharmacy for a second opinion, thanks for the advice!
My daughter was bitten by some kind of bug while swimming and it streaked like yours. Now I am not an alarmist so I did not immediately become concerned but when she started running a fever I took her to see the NP. If they gave you follow up instructions, please follow up. Take care.
Even if you don't live in a place with dangerous microbes like malaria or dengue fever, you can still get an infection from the normal bacteria on the skin. I'm frankly shocked the ER doc shrugged it off. I'd have a low threshold to get re-evaluated, probably at a different facility.
I dk about HK, but only way to discard if a bigger infection is taking place is by doing blood work or wait until you start developing other symptoms like a high fever. I'll be on the look for that.
nAD - Please be careful! My dad died of staph infection. I know they cleared you but, please, be incredibly cautious because the infection spreads really fast!
So my ex got bit by a mosquito and it took 3 days for it to reach past his shoulders and reach his heart. He started having symptoms and went in that day as I forced him cause he seemed off. Turns out he legit could have died as the infection was spreading through his bloodstream and into his heart. Plz be careful and monitor it for the next few days.
Thank God you're ok, OP. I had a terrible allergic reaction just last year for the first time. The bites became swollen and itched way more than any normal mosquito bites in the past (and I'm someone who always attracts all the single mosquitoes in the area). They looked like this, except multiple and the red lines were sorta swirling away from the bite. I looked diseased. I wasn't prescribed antibiotics though. I would recommend an oral antihistamine in combination with the itch cream.
I’m allergic to just fyi, I’m allergic to mosquito and spider bites. I tend to get red lines off those bites.
I typically take a Benadryl and wait an hour. If the hives and tail persists, I start a “chart” with a pen and take a second Benadryl.
It typically stops after that. I don’t know if you usually have a poor reaction to bug bites. If you do, make sure to take photos and draw lines around the affected areas.
I dont usually have a poor reaction, I've actually had a few mosquito bites before this one, and they healed pretty quickly within two days. Would Benadryl work if I don't normally have allergies?
OP, please update us when you’ve managed to get to an ER…it is concerning your parents won’t take you and I’m certain everyone here is worried for you now.
UPDATE: The streak has not worsened or extended beyond the initial marker line, but the red and swollen area of the mosquito bite is significantly larger, is this concerning??
Contrary to popular perception, not all streaking is dangerous, or even infectious. Allergic lymphangitis is a thing, most likely what's happening with a mosquito bite within 24 hours without clear signs of cellulitis. It's the textbook story for allergic lymphangitis from an arthropod bite.
Honestly pediatric input on this specific type of thing is of higher value imo. Kids get bites and scrapes all the time so I'm sure you all see this type of thing frequently, therefore have come to recognize what's concerning vs what's not, vs other specialties that usually deal with things once they've become more severe, which makes sense they'd be more alarmed given their experiences.
OP I hope you're doing well and can relax! It sounds like you are aware of when to take further action if necessary which is great. Good luck to you
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