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AIBU?

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Original poster

AIBU to think you should be able to travel in and around our capital city without getting flea bites!

43 replies

MimiGC · 02/03/2026 10:42

My daughter and I spent two days at the end of the last week travelling in, around and across London - on a total of 8 trains. We also went to Greenwich Theatre. Over the weekend, we both have found numerous flea bites on our legs. ( I assume they are flea bites, as they are in clusters and itch like crazy.)
I have traveled in and around London all my life and been to many theatres and never experienced this before. Has anyone else ever experienced this?

OP posts:
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Original poster
MimiGC · 02/03/2026 17:34

helpfulperson · 02/03/2026 15:40

Thats certainly worth checking.

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I thought scabies was spread by close skin to skin contact.

OP posts:
helpfulperson · 02/03/2026 15:40

StuartLittle · 02/03/2026 13:27

Scabies! There’s a massive increase at the moment.

Thats certainly worth checking.

Pistachiocake · 02/03/2026 15:16

Yes, and not sure why? There were no dogs, before anyone suggests that. And weirdly enough, when I travel in less urban areas, where there's more dogs, I never get bitten.

Usernamenotfound1 · 02/03/2026 14:56

Could be “fibre bites”

I used to get them in the 90’s at work and some pubs.

dry air plus static from shoes plus synthetic carpet means tiny sharp fibres puncture the skin and cause “bites”.

Theatres carpets probably top candidate.

BuildbyNumbere · 02/03/2026 14:45

Use over and underground to commute and have done for years … never had this 🤷🏻‍♀️
Never had issues at theatres either … very strange.

Dimsumdone · 02/03/2026 14:40

I think you may been unlucky, I've lived in London for 40+ years and commute, I haven't experienced bites except if in the usual places (gardens/woods/near water)

FlowerFairyDaisy · 02/03/2026 13:56

MimiGC · 02/03/2026 12:59

No sitting in parks, just a cafe at lunchtime.

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More likely from a cafe or anywhere you visited that permits dogs indoors, I would think.

I regularly travel on train and underground in London and have never experienced this.

YourSassyPanda · 02/03/2026 13:54

And the bedbugs a few years back! Yuck, yuck, yuck!

Tillow4ever · 02/03/2026 13:53

I agree you shouldn’t be getting bitten by fleas in the circumstances you describe.

Have you tried an antihistamine to help with the itching?

StuartLittle · 02/03/2026 13:27

Scabies! There’s a massive increase at the moment.

ShodAndShadySenators · 02/03/2026 13:15

I can believe it, I got a couple of flea bites on my arm when I was a kid, got them on the public service bus. Never had any since nor before, so not all that common as I've travelled a lot on trains and buses all my life.

I suppose technically you just need the timing to be "right" with someone carrying fleas sitting where you were just before you. It's how fleas manage to move to and from from host animals really, isn't it? You were just unlucky. Next time it's unlikely to happen hopefully...

MrThorpeHazell · 02/03/2026 13:14

Londoner born and bred. Lived in London for nearly 40 years and this has never happened to me.

Tuliptana · 02/03/2026 13:06

Put tea tree oil on them. It will stop the itching!
No idea if London is full of fleas. I live.in the North and its usually too cold and wet here for them to take residence.My garden is full of slugs though.

2026Y · 02/03/2026 13:05

MimiGC · 02/03/2026 13:03

I don’t think it’s anyone’s particular responsibility. I grew up in London and have visited regularly throughout my life. Something happened on this occasion that hasn’t happened to me before. Hence I’m curious (and a bit cross).

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Yeah, being bitten is annoying! Not sure what else there is to say though 🤷‍♀️

Original poster
MimiGC · 02/03/2026 13:05

MidnightPatrol · 02/03/2026 12:55

Ditto.

Must be from somewhere else.

Possibly even your own home OP if you both have it.

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There are others living here who don’t have bites. Only the two of us who just spent a lot of time on trains and in the theatre.

OP posts:
Original poster
MimiGC · 02/03/2026 13:03

2026Y · 02/03/2026 12:28

On an average day the population of london is 10m. I have no idea how many insects reside in the capital but let's assume it's a lot. Who's responsibility do you think it is to stop insects biting you?

I don’t think it’s anyone’s particular responsibility. I grew up in London and have visited regularly throughout my life. Something happened on this occasion that hasn’t happened to me before. Hence I’m curious (and a bit cross).

OP posts:
Original poster
MimiGC · 02/03/2026 13:01

Sedentarty · 02/03/2026 12:16

Did you have skirts on?

obviously some people take dogs etc on trains. And some put them on seats.
i had flea bites from caravan park where they had been in sofas.
We used to get then relatively often from the childrens centre either the carpets or bean bags. There was a cat.

We both wore trousers, not skirts.

OP posts:
Sahara123 · 02/03/2026 13:00

MimiGC · 02/03/2026 10:47

We haven’t been in any unclean accommodation.

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But your accommodation can look clean but little flea bastards can still be in your carpet.
Ask me how I know: just got back from the vets🤯

MmeWorthington · 02/03/2026 13:00

I am on and off tubes, trains and buses, and various theatres, all the time.

Have never had any bites that could have been attributed to any of this.

Original poster
MimiGC · 02/03/2026 12:59

Swiftie1878 · 02/03/2026 12:14

Did you sit in a park? Midgie bites?
Highly unlikely to be fleas!

No sitting in parks, just a cafe at lunchtime.

OP posts:
Original poster
MimiGC · 02/03/2026 12:58

Mulledjuice · 02/03/2026 12:12

12 years and counting. Public transport daily. Never had this issue.
Were you wearing shorts?

Where did you stay overnight?

No shorts (February) and we returned home both nights, so no hotels.

OP posts:
titchy · 02/03/2026 12:57

Did you not put the drops on the back of your necks before you left? Tut tut…

MidnightPatrol · 02/03/2026 12:55

Manymoresometimes · 02/03/2026 12:27

More likely the theatre. Been traveling on the tube/train for 35yrs and never once had a flea bite.

Ditto.

Must be from somewhere else.

Possibly even your own home OP if you both have it.

blankittyblank · 02/03/2026 12:52

MimiGC · 02/03/2026 11:22

Looking at images of both, I’d say they look a lot more like flea bites than bed bug bites. Also, are bed bugs active outside of beds? We came home to our own beds each night.

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Bed bugs can live anywhere soft and warm they can hide. So if they happened to be transported onto a train, they could technically hide in the seats and bite you while you're sitting down. I live in London, and also haven't encountered this before, so my guess is it's something you got on a specific train.

I've had bed bugs twice before. Things that stood them apart from flea bites - they were bigger and I had two or three close together. They were really itchy, but specifically at night (apparantly this is so you scratch at night and lure them back to you). They didn't bother me in the day as much. And, they took ages to go away - weeks to disappear.

2026Y · 02/03/2026 12:28

On an average day the population of london is 10m. I have no idea how many insects reside in the capital but let's assume it's a lot. Who's responsibility do you think it is to stop insects biting you?