subject: Bedbugs Making Comeback [print this page] Bedbugs Making Comeback Bedbugs Making Comeback
While sounding like something out of a medieval horror show, bedbugs are making a comeback across the world. According to the National Pest Management Association in the U.S. calls for bedbug exterminations have risen a whopping eighty-one percent over the last ten years.
What this means is that more and more people are finding themselves with bites or other evidence of these nasty blood-sucking pests. Bedbugs, as the name suggests are generally found in and around the mattresses of their hosts but can also hide in any upholstered furniture. These bugs are parasitic insects from the family Cimicidae. They usually feed on human blood and though mainly active at night are not strictly nocturnal.
Around 1940 bedbugs were eradicated in much of the Western world through the use of powerful pesticides like DDT. Since 1995 however, there has been a reemergence of these pests and many have become immune to the variety of pesticides. As such, it is becoming increasingly difficult to deal with this growing problem.
Not everyone reacts to the bites of bedbugs. In fact, only about 50% of subjects do and many of these might have such a slight reaction that it goes unnoticed. Moreover, because these bugs can sometimes live for up to a year without feeding, they can also go largely unnoticed in this capacity. As such, it is important to keep an eye out for these insects, both at your own home and during your travels.
Bedbugs can be brought home with you from vacation spots and can travel quite easily in suitcases and in clothes. These pesty hitchhikers should therefore be checked for in both your own home and in hotels.
In order to check for bedbugs begin by looking closely at the mattress. Lift the mattress and examine along its sides and underneath. Bedbugs are about a reddish brown colour, are round and have no wings. The well fed ones are about a quarter inch long. Those that are hungry however are hard to spot because they can be more flat, and can be white or straw coloured.
After traveling, it is always a good idea to wash all clothes in hot water even those that haven't been worn. Suitcases should also be vacuumed if any evidence seems to warrant it.
The only good news is that these bugs do not seem to transmit infection to their hosts. And while some naturally remedies have been used traditionally, such as wild mint, black cohosh, Eucalyptus oil, black pepper and others, they have yet to be studied. Vigilance seems to be at present the best defense against these nasty pests.
