It’s the June school holidays and if you’re heading out for beach getaways, Elvin Ng has a cautionary tale to tell: beware the sandflies.
The local actor took to Instagram yesterday (June 18) to document videos of himself receiving steroid shots after suffering prolonged allergic reactions to sandfly bites.
Seeking to share this experience “for the common hate for #sandflybites”, the 45-year-old specified that he had gotten the bites four months ago while suntanning at his usual Sentosa beach spot.
However, they only became infected one month later in late February – the same time he underwent emergency eye surgery after observing shadows in his vision.
According to Cleveland Clinic, some sandflies can be harmless while others can burrow into skin and cause severe skin problems, infections or diseases. The irritation causes itchy red bumps on one’s skin and typically subsides within a few days.
In his videos, Elvin can be seen tightly clutching a small plushie while he laughs and groans in pain with two medical practitioners attending to him. He said: “It’s actually not that painful (luckily there was ice) but I was just bracing myself for each shot and squeezing any life out of the plushie (luckily I had it) for destressing purposes.”
Getting the shots – one for each bite infection – seemed to be a last resort, for he previously went through two rounds of doctor visits, where he was prescribed antihistamines and steroid creams which were ineffective. He said the bite wounds had gotten so severe that the creams were unable to get past the wound scabs.
“I’m probably highly allergic to sandfly bites (this is my first time getting them) and they became really inflamed and unbearable,” said Elvin. “Me not really liking sandflies is an understatement, but maybe I love injections now, arrrgh!”
Learning from the ordeal, he shared that the water between the wet and dry areas are the most likely to have sandflies – which the naked eye cannot see. “I also learned that we always need to spray repellent whenever we go to the beach, even if it’s to suntan or bask in the water,” cautioned Elvin.
“Hopefully this helps and you won’t need to go through the same kind of crazy itchiness (scratching until the bites bleed) I’ve been tolerating for months, and you can do better to protect yourself from this ‘common enemy’.”
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