Column: Don’t let bedbugs follow you home – Montgomery Advertiser

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Jefferson Underwood III, M.D., Columnist Published 9:04 a.m. CT April 25, 2017 | Updated 9:05 a.m. CT April 25, 2017

Common bedbugs, Cimex lectularius, largely disappeared from beds in the 1950s, and have reemerged in the last few decades to cause havoc in homes, offices, hotels and public transportation. Wochit

Treatment for bedbug infestation primarily involves antiseptic creams to prevent infections and antihistamines for itching.(Photo: Joel Carillet/Getty Images)

With summer looming just around the corner, many of you are undoubtedly planning for that long awaited summer vacation. When it is all said and done there will be a few souvenirs that you return with, both wanted and unwanted. Aside from those unwanted T-shirts or sunburns, one reminder of your vacation that you do not want to bring back are bedbugs.

Ever since 2000, bedbug infestations have been on the rise. Once relegated to third world countries, bedbugs have become permanent residents in modern civilized societies. Infestations have now been documented on every continent. In Australia bedbug infestations have risen 4,500 percentover the last decade. As far as the United States, Philadelphia and New York City lead the nation in documented bedbug infestations.

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Bedbugs have been around for quite a while. There are ancient Egyptian records documenting bedbug infestations over 3,000 years ago. From the 1940s to the late 1950s, 30 percentof all U.S. households were infested with bedbugs. But why such an exposure in amount of reported bedbug infestations now?There are several factors contributing to the rise.

One of the main reasons we are now seeing so many cases of bedbugs in the U.S. is because of the ban of the insecticide DDT. Bedbugs are now becoming resistant to the replacement insecticide prethyroid at an increasing rate as well. Increasing populations in large cities along with the ability to travel to any part of the world with ease have also contributed to the rise in bedbug cases.

Bedbugs are approximately 5 mm in length and are reddish-brown oval in appearance. They love to feed on the blood of humans. Bedbugs prefer warm climates and have a life cycle of about sixmonths however, some may live up to a year or longer. Interestingly, bedbugs reproduce by what is known as atraumatic insemination. That is where the male stabs the female in the abdomen and injects his sperm into the wound. The female will then lay approximately a half-a-dozen eggs per week or 500 in her lifetime. The eggs will hatch in five to 10 days.

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Bedbugs use heat and carbon dioxide, which is released from humans, as a way to get to their favorite meal which is human blood. They like to eat between 1 and 5 oclock in the morning, which is when the infestation occurs.

Bedbug bites are usually more of a nuisance than a serious medical threat. Sometimes a person may develop an allergic reaction to a bite and several cases of asthma have also been reported as being triggered by bedbug infestation. Generalized anxiety as well as insomnia can be made worse by bedbug infestations and unfortunately those who suffer with mental illness can have worsening of their psychiatric problems. Although the insect that causes bedbug infestations have been known to carry many types of organisms such as hepatitis, HIV as well as methicillin-resistant Staph aureus, there has been no evidence of transmissions to humans or disease caused in a human by bedbug infestations.

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Treatment for bedbug infestation primarily involves antiseptic creams to prevent infections and antihistamines for itching. Mattresses, bed clothing, sheets, blankets, etc. should be inspected for signs of bedbug infestations. These signs may include seeing the insect themselves, insect eggs, blood stains or some fecal spotting. A professional exterminator can also be employed. They are able to heat a room to a temperature which is lethal to the bedbugs. That is between 118 and 123 degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature must be maintained for at least 90 minutes to kill bedbugs. You can also take advantage of our hot Alabama heat by leaving your luggage if you are returning from travel in your car on a hot summer day. This should do the trick as well. This is also a good time to ignore the cold water wash and turn the hot water as high as you can go and use extremely high heat to dry. Sealing a mattress and other furniture with special eradication treatments can also be done by certain professional exterminators.

To find out what you can do to help stem this tide of bedbugs, from rolling through Alabama, go to the U.S. Environmental Protection agencies website at http://www.epa.gov.

Jefferson Underwood III, M.D., is a Montgomery physician.

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Column: Don't let bedbugs follow you home - Montgomery Advertiser

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