“Night night, sleep tight, don’t let the bed-bugs bite…” It’s long been a favourite rhyme to send children off to sleep, but a BBC report highlighted experts fears that the night time bloodsuckers are becoming an epidemic.
A survey of over a thousand pest control firms by the University of Kentucky and the United States’ National Pest Management Association, appears to indicate that the increase is global. This is further supported by evidence closer to home as London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, last year found the number of complaints about bedbugs in the capital grew annually, by an average of 28.5% between 2000-2006. And there’s no sign of the problem abating with Rentokil reporting the number of bedbug call outs has gone up by 24% in the first half of the year.
Experts have known about the bugs for years in fact since the banning of DDT based pest control products in 1972, it is thought the bugs have steadily been increasing. Whilst here in the UK it hasn’t made big news yet, across the pond they have been introduced laws to that require landlords to declare any infestations in the last 12 months. They also passed laws requiring schools to notify parents of any known outbreaks.
However it should be noted that although the bugs do suck your blood and can cause irritating bites they don’t pass on disease like rats or mosquito’s. Its possibly this lack of “lethality” that has led to the bugs being dismissed as harmless. The increase in allergy sufferers generally [covered in other posts on this blog] is something for maybe 25% of the population to be concerned about. They can trigger any number of other problems if you already suffer with allergies or skin conditions such as eczema.
If you spot any blood spot or are waking with “bites” and itchy marks, you should seek medical advice. Bed bugs can be treated and dealt with, but as with anything, the longer you leave things untreated the worse any infestation will become.
You can leave your comments below, have you experienced any problems whilst travelling or in your home?
