Active dispersal occurs when a bed bug uses its legs to walk a short distance to a new location. Bed bugs do not fly or jump. They are rapid crawlers, similar in speed to an ant. A bed bug may spread between rooms in infested buildings this way. Passive dispersal is when a bed bug is transported on clothing, luggage, furniture, and other objects.
Bed bugs have been discovered on travelers in airplanes, cars, trains, and ships, as well as on travelers on foot. Due to their elusive nature, detection of bed bugs can be very difficult. Bed bug infestation should be suspected if dark brown or reddish brown fecal and blood spots are found on clothing, mattresses, bedding, or furniture. In addition, bed bugs can emit a characteristic sweet, musty smell. Patients may present with itching or skin irritation with bed bug bites, but not everyone has a reaction to the bites.
These bites may be confused with bites from other creatures such as mosquitoes, spiders, and fleas. Bed bug infestation is confirmed by the presence of live or dead bugs or their eggs. Every crack and crevice in living areas must be searched extensively to confirm the presence of bed bugs. Using a flashlight about an hour before dawn is a good way to detect bed bugs because they are more active during that time.
Bed bug infestations are not just limited to the bed. They prefer wood, paper, and fabric surfaces in dark and isolated areas. Bed bugs have been found in a wide variety of places including bed frames, door frames, headboards, telephones, furniture, loose wallpaper, wall cracks, drapery, clothing, and movie theater seats.
Bed bug—detecting dogs have also been employed to discover bed bugs via scent. Bed bugs are equipped with mouthparts that are ideal for feeding on blood. During feeding the bed bug injects saliva, which contains an anesthetic and an anticoagulant that can prevent the host from feeling the bite. However, some people do experience a painful bite.
The saliva also contains proteins that can elicit various responses from the host. Reactions to the bites can occur immediately, several days later, or not at all. Bites are typically located on skin that is exposed while sleeping such as the face, arms, and legs. Typically, bites present as erythematous and maculopapular skin lesions that are about 2 to 5 mm in diameter. There is often a hemorrhagic crust or vesicle at the center of the lesion.
The bites often look very similar to a mosquito or flea bite and are associated with itching and inflammation. The skin lesions last about 2 to 6 weeks and are usually self-limiting.
More complex skin reactions may present as local urticaria and bullous rashes. Scratching the skin lesions can lead to secondary infections and ulcerations.
Although uncommon, systemic reactions from bed bug bites have been reported. These reactions include generalized urticaria, asthma, and, in very rare cases, anaphylaxis.
The blood loss a host experiences during a bite typically does not adversely affect the host. Investigators have theorized for many years that bed bugs may serve as vectors for transmission of disease. In order for a bed bug to do this, many steps would need to occur.
The insect would have to be able to acquire an infectious pathogen, maintain it, and then be able to transmit it to another organism. Over 45 different pathogens have been suspected to be carried by bed bugs, including HIV and hepatitis B.
Further investigations are necessary to determine if bed bugs play a role in disease transmission. Bed bugs are extremely difficult to eradicate. Elimination can be challenging because bed bugs are very hard to locate and are resistant to many pesticides.
Local public health departments may also have limited resources to help exterminate pests. A multifaceted approach is necessary for complete eradication. When bed bugs are suspected or identified, a licensed pest control professional should be consulted.
A combination of chemical and physical removal is usually necessary for complete eradication. Oftentimes multiple rounds of physical and chemical removal will be needed to eradicate bed bugs from an infested site.
Physical Eradication : Removal and disposal of infested furniture and mattresses may be necessary if the infestation is severe. For less severe infestations, bed bugs can be removed with vacuuming. It is usually necessary to scrape bed bugs with the suction end of the vacuum to remove them. Routine vacuuming may not be particularly effective at removing bed bugs because they cling tightly to many surfaces. Vacuuming should be performed every day or every other day until the infestation is gone.
The vacuum bag should be removed, properly sealed in a secondary bag, and placed in an outside dumpster. Once a vacuum is used for removal of bed bugs, it should only be used for that purpose. After bed bugs are removed from a mattress, it can be sealed in a mattress encasement or cover. This will trap any remaining bed bugs inside the cover. It is important to keep the mattress cover sealed for at least 1 year because bed bugs can survive up to a year without a blood meal.
Bed bugs are sensitive to temperature extremes; therefore, steam cleaning may also be helpful with bed bug removal. However, steam cleaning may not be as effective as vacuuming because the heat may not reach well-hidden bed bugs.
Bed linens, curtains, clothes, and other washable materials should be washed in hot soapy water and dried for at least 20 minutes in a hot dryer. For decades thereafter, DDT and other chemicals helped keep America's homes and hotels bedbug-free.
But it didn't last. Since , a new strain of pesticide-resistant bedbugs has been popping up in the US. In , there were 11, reported complaints in New York City alone. In New Jersey, a Rutgers study found , fully 1 in 8 low-income apartments had infestations, with bugs hiding in sofas, beds, and tiny cracks in the wall. Many residents don't realize anything's amiss until they wake up in the night with strange bites and rashes. By then, the unwelcome guests can be tough to get rid of.
Brooke Borel: Yeah, one thing that struck me were the similarities through history. You can go back and read descriptions of old beds with jars around the legs that contained paraffin to ward off bedbugs.
How did that happen? These were the first synthetic insecticides, and they were way more effective than the natural botanicals or elemental poisons we had been using previously. Most insects had never experienced this type of poison before — and they were very vulnerable to it. So we were able to knock bedbug numbers down. One key thing about DDT is that it leaves a residue on surfaces for a long time: months, maybe even a year.
Earlier sprays might have dissipated or not gotten down into the cracks where the bedbugs were. But DDT leaves a residue, and bedbugs would walk through it in order to come eat. There might have been other factors in knocking down bedbug numbers, too. Some experts point to different housekeeping practices that emerged after World War II — people were using vacuum cleaners more, and so on. Or in the United Kingdom, they were able to reduce bedbug numbers before the war, in the s, because they completely tore down all these tenement buildings and rebuilt them.
BP: So how did bedbugs make a comeback? It wasn't simply because we banned DDT in the s , was it? BB: No. Some people still say the only reason we have bedbugs now is because we banned DDT [after concerns about its threat to wildlife]. The bigger problem is that bedbugs were becoming resistant to DDT, and that was starting to happen way before the ban occurred. DDT and other pesticides work on the nervous system of insects — often by screwing with their ion channels and leaving them open so that it fries the nervous system.
But how did they become so widespread? BB: The idea is that pockets of resistant bedbugs evolved somewhere in the world, probably in more than one place. Then in the s and s, you have this huge increase in air travel both domestically and internationally — it got cheaper through the deregulation of airlines in the US and a set of new treaties in the s. That probably helped spread these resistant bedbugs. Bed bugs have been around for thousands of years. They feed on blood, but are not known to spread any diseases to humans.
Some people can be allergic to their bites. Getting rid of a bed bug infestation is not easy, but there are steps you can take to control the problem. There are also steps you can take to avoid bringing bed bugs home. It can be done, but it usually requires what is called an "integrated pest management" IPM approach. This combines techniques that pose the lowest risk to your health and the environment.
Try these strategies:. Pesticides may not be effective and can be dangerous if used improperly. If you decide to use pesticides, follow these rules:. It takes time and persistence to get rid of bed bugs, and in some cases, the cooperation of landlords, neighbors and others. It can be physically and emotionally exhausting. It can also be expensive when pest control companies are called in.
Just remember - bed bugs are more of a nuisance than a health concern and, with vigilance, you can avoid or deal with infestations. Navigation menu. What are bed bugs? Bed bugs are small, flat wingless insects that are reddish-brown in color and approximately one-quarter inch long, before feeding about the size and shape of a small apple seed.
They hide during the day on beds mattress seams, box springs, bed frames, headboards and in cracks and crevices of walls, floors and furniture.
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