Bed bugs have probably been plaguing people for ever, especially in warmer countries. In fact Aristotle wrote about them in 400 BC, but they were not common in the United Kingdom until after the Great Fire of London in 1666. People deduced that bed bugs lived in wood because the bed bug plagues only commenced after 1670; they supposed that the bed bugs that had come in with timber imported to reconstruct London.
They have been there ever since, except for about fifty years between the 1940's and 1995. A similar pattern can be traced in most of the industrialized Western world, because after the Second World War there was a concerted effort to clear out the old bomb-damaged city slums and begin again. As they worked their way through the cities clearing and cleaning they used tons of DDT which nearly wiped out bedbugs and some other widespread household pests.
The authorities in the United States also went on the rampage with DDT with a similar result. Then something occurred and we can be quite specific about the date: in 1995 reports of bedbug infestations started flooding in again.
One district of London reported infestations of bedbugs doubling each year from 1995 to 2001 and the US National Pest Management Agency reported a 71% rise in bedbug incidents between 2000 and 2005. A pest control company in North Carolina said that a quarter of the hotels it surveyed between 2002 and 2006 had a bedbug issue.
Bedbugs feed by inserting two tubes into the host's skin, one squirts in a type of saliva containing anticoagulant and anaesthetic and the other draws blood. This saliva can result in irritation in some individuals in the form of lumps, which may or may not itch. Having lots of bites can result in anaemia.
The main risk most people run is secondary infection from scratching with unclean finger nails. In 2008, the World health Organization gave the opinion that there was some evidence that bedbugs may cause asthma and that being bitten repeatedly may make the victim more susceptible to other diseases.
Bedbugs have all the right equipment and behavioural patterns to be able to spread diseases, but there have been no known examples to date. However, knowing that there are bedbugs around can cause some people to obsess about them, which frequently leads to insomnia and irritability.
If you discover bedbugs in your hotel, you should report it to the manager and if you live in rented accommodation you should advise the landlord. If it is your own home you should seek advice from the local Environmental Health Agency attached to the council, because bedbugs can proliferate from one house to the next very quickly.
Many old terraced houses are not totally sealed off from one another enabling bedbugs to roam and set up new colonies and bedbugs can be taken home from hotels in your suitcase or clothing. Bedbugs are a concern for public concern, but they are not life-threatening.
They have been there ever since, except for about fifty years between the 1940's and 1995. A similar pattern can be traced in most of the industrialized Western world, because after the Second World War there was a concerted effort to clear out the old bomb-damaged city slums and begin again. As they worked their way through the cities clearing and cleaning they used tons of DDT which nearly wiped out bedbugs and some other widespread household pests.
The authorities in the United States also went on the rampage with DDT with a similar result. Then something occurred and we can be quite specific about the date: in 1995 reports of bedbug infestations started flooding in again.
One district of London reported infestations of bedbugs doubling each year from 1995 to 2001 and the US National Pest Management Agency reported a 71% rise in bedbug incidents between 2000 and 2005. A pest control company in North Carolina said that a quarter of the hotels it surveyed between 2002 and 2006 had a bedbug issue.
Bedbugs feed by inserting two tubes into the host's skin, one squirts in a type of saliva containing anticoagulant and anaesthetic and the other draws blood. This saliva can result in irritation in some individuals in the form of lumps, which may or may not itch. Having lots of bites can result in anaemia.
The main risk most people run is secondary infection from scratching with unclean finger nails. In 2008, the World health Organization gave the opinion that there was some evidence that bedbugs may cause asthma and that being bitten repeatedly may make the victim more susceptible to other diseases.
Bedbugs have all the right equipment and behavioural patterns to be able to spread diseases, but there have been no known examples to date. However, knowing that there are bedbugs around can cause some people to obsess about them, which frequently leads to insomnia and irritability.
If you discover bedbugs in your hotel, you should report it to the manager and if you live in rented accommodation you should advise the landlord. If it is your own home you should seek advice from the local Environmental Health Agency attached to the council, because bedbugs can proliferate from one house to the next very quickly.
Many old terraced houses are not totally sealed off from one another enabling bedbugs to roam and set up new colonies and bedbugs can be taken home from hotels in your suitcase or clothing. Bedbugs are a concern for public concern, but they are not life-threatening.
About the Author:
Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently concerned with bed bugs spray. If you are interested in this, please visit our website now at Picture Of Bed Bugs for further details.
No comments:
Post a Comment