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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Former member 91017" data-source="post: 989368">Have the prone person carry a powerful 2nd gen antihistimine (I use citirazine; others use loratidine).  You have to start taking it for 24-48 hours before hand for it to become effective, but as a bite generally lasts for 2 weeks on me, the wait is worth it.  On the first day when a bite shows up I hit it with the Benadryl stick for localized treatment of the itch and inflamation. What I understand of the bites is that those who say “they don’t bite me” are mistaken. Bed bugs bite everyone.  But only some of us have the histamine reaction to them.  Because they do not carry infections, I do not care if I can take medications to suppress any reaction. Once I’ve had my first bite, I just take the antihistamine daily until the end of the trip.  And then I can enjoy the camino as those who do not react do. The only risk from the bites is that one scratches so much that an infection sets in. Getting rid of the itch gets rid of that threat. There’s really no way to avoid encountering them in the high season on the trail.</blockquote>