Yep, it's happened. Both Darrell and I have had jiggers this week! At first I thought I had been bitten by a red ant on the side of my foot because it itched so much, but as it started to feel as if I was stepping on something I asked Darrell to check it out. He confirmed my suspicions and went to work with a needle to dig it out.
A jigger is the smallest of fleas that burrows under the skin to live comfortably--at least for the jigger--until its belly swells with eggs. During removal, care must be taken to get the whole thing; sometimes, depending on how big it got, it can leave quite a hole. This one wasn't too big.
Today Darrell asked me to check out his little toe. We're quite sure he had a jigger too, though it didn't itch. His was in a crazy spot--right on the end of his toe by the nail. He trimmed the nail as short as he could and I went to work with the needle. It was partly under the nail and I wasn't able to get it out in one piece, but by the time I was done he had the typical hole.
It's not surprising that this happened, especially for me since I wear flip-flops, and we both had had them when we lived here before. What really surprised us is that Sackie told us he has had only one in his life. He must know a secret that we don't know! Oh well, it's just part of living in the tropics!
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