Parents
throughout Hudson Valley are noticing peculiar bug bites popping up on their
kids. Doctors have reported that black flies are to blame.
“First, there
is no human infectious disease that are caused by these flies that we know of,”
said Dr. Ivan Miller, the head of emergency medicine for Westchester Medical
Center. “I would remain calm if my child got these bites."
A New Paltz mother told News 12 that she noticed marks
on her 4-year-old daughter. Dana Savitsky, a mother in Bedford, says she
noticed the marks on her 8-year-old daughter in the same place two weeks
apart.
Dr. Miller says that the bites are essentially allergic
reactions that can be treated with over the counter Benadryl or other
antihistamines.
These bugs are just one addition to what parents have been
dealing with recently.
"We had to
worry about COVID. All these crazy viruses this year. And now we have to worry
about intense bugs,” said Miquel Cohn, a New Paltz parent. “It's just like
never ending."