Are Bed bug harmful to humans?
Bed bugs tend to bite on people's cheeks, neck, hands, legs, and back. Red spots usually appear on the bitten dermal areas, generally arranged in clusters and the symptoms are difficult to distinguish from other insect bites or rashes. As bed bugs inject alkaline saliva into the human skin to prevent blood clotting during their feast, the irritative saliva makes most people feel unbearably itchy and the redness and swelling won't subside for days. There is infection risk if you scratch too hard and abrade the wounded skin.
Bed bug may negatively affect the health of people. A minority population develops serious allergies after being bitten and the symptoms include severe itching, blisters, or urticaria. Bed bugs are likely to spread disease. Researches show that human disease-related viruses have been found inside bed bug's body. However, the possibility of these viruses retransmitting to humans through bed bugs is considered to be very low.
Bed bugs can affect mental health. Being disturbed by bed bugs chronically could lead to stress, dreams, insomnia, anxiety, depression, and even suicidal tendency.
What is the most effective prevention against Bed bug?
Preventing Bites
Don't sleep naked. Bed bugs can't pierce clothes, so wear pajamas.
Be careful when trying on clothes. In clothing stores, check clothes for bugs. Hang your own clothes up instead of placing them on a chair, because bed bugs live in furniture.
Use bed bug repellent. However, be aware that normal repellents for mosquitoes or ticks are not effective against bed bugs.
Use essential oil. Bed bugs afraid the smell of essential oils. Spray diluted essential oils at home, office, or directly on your body, and the fragrance could keep bed bugs away.
Applying permethrin-based ointment could protect you from bed bugs. However, it might also slowly make them resistant to that chemical.
Prevent Bug Breeding
Insulate your home from the outside. Install sealing strips on doors and windows and repair cracks in walls or roofs to prevent bed bugs from coming in.
Don't purchase used furniture. Or carefully inspect for and eradicate bed bugs before moving the purchased used furniture (including soft decorations like pillows, quilts, sofas, curtains, and other clothes) into your home.
Replace the mattress. If financially viable, replace your mattress every 2-3 years.
Cover the mattress. Choose a mattress cover with elastic bands that bed bugs can't penetrate.
Vacuum your carpets regularly. Dispose of the waste from the vacuum cleaner in a tightly sealed bag. Clean the inside of the vacuum cleaner.
Clear away the nests of birds and bats near your home. These places can shelter bed bugs.
Precautions When Staying in a Hotel
Inspect the seam of the mattress for black stains. Do not put your luggage directly on the floor or bed. If there is no luggage rack in the hotel, place luggage in the bathtub temporarily while inspecting the bedroom.
After the Trip
Unpack your suitcases outside the house, inspect the cases, and shake them. Bring your clothes into the house in plastic bags to wash separately, whether dirty or not. Do not mix them with your other clothes. You could have a laundromat clean them for you. If you suspect you are carrying bed bugs, take off your clothes on hardwood floors, keep them away from your carpet, and clean the floor immediately and thoroughly to fully eliminate residual bed bugs.
How to get rid of Bed bug?
Spotting the Pest
Thoroughly inspect all corners of your house, including walls, mattresses, and the gaps between furniture. Bed bugs are more active and easier to find at nighttime.
Look for the following signs:
- Black speckled stains at the seams of mattresses. These spots are bed bug excretion.
- Strange-looking light yellow or transparent slough. Bed bugs molt five times before adulthood. The empty molted slough is light yellow.
- Rust- or dark red-colored stains. You may find a small amount of blood on your bedsheet from accidentally crushing bed bugs.
Handling the Bites
The itchy red spots from bed bug bites usually disappear within a week or two. Use the following methods to reduce inflammation caused by bed bug bites and speed recovery.
- Avoid scratching the bites
- Apply skin cream containing steroids
- Apply vinegar to fresh bites to reduce the itchiness and sterilize
- Applying garlic juice could also sterilize the wound
- Take antihistamine drugs
- If the abraded bug bites cause skin infections, take antibiotics under the direction of your doctor
Most bed bug bites do not require medical attention. If you experience allergic reactions or skin infections from abrasion, consult your doctor for proper diagnosis and treatment.
Common Solutions
You may have to throw away a lot of housewares, such as infested mattresses or sofas. Don't purchase new furniture or soft decorations before the bed bugs are fully eradicated. Do not move or sell luggage, furniture, or other objects from bed bug-infested bedrooms to prevent the passive migration of the bed bug population from causing further troubles.
Vacuuming. Using a vacuum cleaner on cracks and crevices can remove bed bugs from a specific area. This could eradicate its eggs, nymphs, adult bugs and even other small insects. Empty the vacuum cleaner so it doesn't become a new bed bug habitat.
High-temperature treatment. Washing and drying items in a high-temperature washing machine or dryer can kill bed bugs on clothes or other textiles. Soaking infested fabrics in boiling water works as well. Steam produced by any household portable steamer or iron can be used to kill hidden bed bugs on fabrics or even inside tiny furniture gaps. As for large items like bed frames, move them outside and pour boiling water on them on all surfaces to eradicate bed bugs thoroughly.
Sun exposure. For clothes that can't be immersed in boiling water, exposing them to the sun for several hours on a sunny day and flipping them from time to time may kill the bed bugs, as they can't withstand heat.
Manual capture. Shake or beat on bedsteads, mattresses, tablecloths, curtains, carpet, etc. to get rid of the bed bugs. Use a needle and wires to pick out the bed bugs in small gaps and kill them.
Pesticides
Currently, the World Health Organization recommends 18 kinds of pesticides effective for controlling bed bugs. In recent years, studies in the United States, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Australia, and other countries have proved that existing bed bugs are resistant to pyrethroids and carbamates. Hence, it is recommended to use organophosphorus pesticides. The pesticides widely used in the United States to kill resistant bed bugs are chlorfenapyr and diatomite.
Because organophosphorus pesticides emit a terrible smell and fade fabric color, their usage is limited. Therefore, when considering the use of pyrethroid pesticides, consider boosting its effectiveness by adding other chemicals, such as piperonyl butoxide and Bis(2,3,3,3-tetrachloropropyl) ether.
Spray the pesticide on mattress seams, tables, chairs, wall cracks, and other places where bed bugs hide. Close doors and windows for 3-4 hours after disinfestation for greater efficiency.
