Mysterious red spot

I woke up a couple days ago with a really small red bump on my finger. At first it was just a dot, but now it looks sort of swollen and itches on and off. Then today, my roommate found a red bump on her hand also. Hers also started to itch. what is this?

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
From your symptoms the possibility of contact dermatitis, insect bites or scabies needs to be ruled out. Scabies is an infestation of the skin with the Sarcoptes scabiei mite. It is characterized by intense itching, usually at night and by small insect-type bites lesions on the skin. Diagnosis of scabies is made by scraping the skin and viewing the material under a microscope to see the characteristic mite or eggs.

It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your doctor. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.