Bed bug – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bed bugs, bed-bugs, or bedbugs [2] are parasitic insects of the cimicid family that feed exclusively on blood. Cimex lectularius, the common bed bug, is the best known as it prefers to feed on human blood although other Cimex species are specialized to other animals, e.g., bat bugs, Cimex pipistrelli (Europe), Cimex pilosellus (western US), and Cimex adjunctus (entire eastern US).[3]

The name of the "bed bug" is derived from the preferred habitat of Cimex lectularius: warm houses and especially nearby or inside of beds and bedding or other sleep areas. Bed bugs are mainly active at night, but are not exclusively nocturnal. They usually feed on their hosts without being noticed.[4][5][5][6]

A number of adverse health effects may result from bed bug bites, including skin rashes, psychological effects, and allergic symptoms.[7] They are not known to transmit any pathogens as disease vectors. Certain signs and symptoms suggest the presence of bed bugs; finding the insects confirms the diagnosis.

Bed bugs have been known as human parasites for thousands of years.[8] At a point in the early 1940s, they were mostly eradicated in the developed world, but have increased in prevalence since 1995.[9][10] Because infestation of human habitats has been on the increase, bed bug bites and related conditions have been on the rise as well.[8][11]

Bed bugs can cause a number of health effects, including skin rashes, psychological effects, and allergic symptoms.[7] They are able to be infected by at least 28 human pathogens, but no study has clearly found that the insect is able to transmit the pathogen to a human being.[12] Bed bug bites or cimicosis may lead to a range of skin manifestations from no visible effects to prominent blisters.[13]

Diagnosis involves both finding bed bugs and the occurrence of compatible symptoms.[7] Treatment involves the elimination of the insect and measure to help with the symptoms until they resolve.[7] They have been found with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)[14] and with vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE), but the significance of this is still unknown.[15]

Dwellings can become infested with bed bugs in a variety of ways, such as:

Bed bugs are elusive and usually nocturnal (peak activity usually occurs between 10:00 p.m. - 6:00 a.m.), which can make their detection difficult. They often lodge in dark crevices, and the tiny adhesive eggs can be nestled by the hundreds in fabric seams. Aside from bite symptoms, signs include fecal spots (small dark sand-like droppings that occur in patches around and especially beneath nests), blood smears on sheets (fecal spots that are re-wetted will smear like fresh blood), and the presence of their empty moulted exoskeletons.

Although bed bugs can be found singly, they tend to congregate once established. Although they are strictly parasitic, they spend only a tiny fraction of their life cycles physically attached to their hosts. Once feeding is complete, a bed bug will relocate to a place close to a known host, commonly in or near beds or couches in clusters of adults, juveniles, and eggs which entomologists call harborage areas or simply harborages to which the insect will return after future feedings by following chemical trails. These places can vary greatly in format, including luggage, inside of vehicles, within furniture, amongst bedside clutter, even inside electrical sockets and nearby laptop computers. Bed bugs may also nest near animals that have nested within a dwelling, such as bats, birds,[17] or rodents. They are also capable of surviving on domestic cats and dogs, though humans are the preferred host of Cimex lectularius.[20]

Bed bugs can also be detected by their characteristic smell of rotting raspberries.[21]Bed bug detection dogs are trained to pinpoint infestations, with a possible accuracy rate of between 11% and 83%.[22] A few companies are experimenting with high speed gas chromatography to detect bed bugs.

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Bed bug - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia