A small outbreak of allergic reactions caused by caterpillars has broken out in Kaohsiung. A local doctor says he’s had multiple patients come in with a mild rash caused by caterpillar bristles. He warns parents to make sure they take kids to the doctor if they encounter the rash. That’s the best way to make sure it doesn’t lead to anything more serious.

Spring is here, the flowers are blooming, and parks are full of families playing on the grass, picnicking and sunbathing. For parents, there are lots of things to watch out for.

Parent
We try to wear long sleeves and trousers so as not to touch the grass with our skin.

Parent
It can be quite hard to protect against caterpillars.

Some children end up with a rash like this despite wearing protective clothes. One doctor treated a 1-year-old girl with a mysterious rash on her waist – asymmetrical and very localized. Her parents said she’d recently been to the park. That’s when the doctor realized it must have been caused by a caterpillar’s bristles poking through her clothes.

Dr. Huang Po-han
Dermatologist
When you discover a rash on yourself or your child, or an area of concentrated pimples a bit like mosquito bites, you must immediately take your clothes off. Take a shower, and wash your clothes. The bristles will stay in the clothes. Secondly the rash will often be very itchy. If you just leave it and don’t attend to it, and the child scratches, it could get infected.

Doctors explain that in the spring breeze, bristles from caterpillars are blown into the air. Some contain venom, and they may cause allergic reactions. In the last six months, this doctor says he’s treated 10 patients with such rashes. He advises parents not to treat it like a mosquito bite with a simple dab of cream. Take your child to a doctor, he says, to make sure they get the care they need.