![]() ![]() There are also public health, social and economic consequences office buildings and schools often have to close if they are dealing with a bedbug infestation. And an infestation can take a psychological toll on those affected: People whose homes have been infested with bedbugs may have trouble sleeping for fear of being bitten in the night. Antiseptic creams or lotions can be used to ward off infection and antihistamines can be used to treat the itching. Another study published in 1991 in the Journal of the Egyptian Society of Parasitology found that people with asthma might be more susceptible to allergic reactions from bedbug bites.Įxcessively scratching the itchy, bitten areas also may increase the chance of a secondary skin infection. Researchers reported in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in 2009 that they treated a 60-year-old man for anemia caused by blood loss from bedbug bites. There have also been some strange cases linked to bedbug infestations. ![]() The bites themselves don't usually pose any major health risk since bedbugs are not known to spread diseases, but an allergic reaction to the bites may require medical attention, CDC officials say. Some people have little visible reaction to the insects' nibbling - they don't develop lesions or bumps or pustules at all. People also have widely varying reactions to bedbug bites. "I've raised these things for 41 years and I cannot tell what is a bedbug bite."īedbug bites can look very similar to bites from other insects like mosquitos and fleas. "A lot of people put a lot of import on looking at the bite and identifying it," Harold Harlan, an entomologist and a bedbug expert, told Live Science. On sleeping human hosts, bedbugs often bite exposed areas of the body, such as the face, neck, arms and hands.īut looking for bedbug bites might not be the best way to tell if you have an infestation. Bedbugs are attracted to warmth, moisture and the carbon dioxide released from warm-blooded animals, according to Purdue University. The insects are most active at night, though they are not exclusively nocturnal. The critters become engorged with blood in about 10 minutes, which fills them up for days. "However, after doing the study, the main reason we think they preferred red colors is because bedbugs themselves appear red, so they go to these harborages because they want to be with other bedbugs, as they are known to exist in aggregations."Īs for steering clear of green and yellow? Those hues may resemble brightly lit areas, which bedbugs try to avoid, according to the researchers, who detailed their study April 25, 2016, in the Journal of Medical Entomology.ĭocument.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function()) Bedbug bitesīedbugs feed on the blood of humans (though some species have a taste for other mammals and birds, too) by inserting a sharp proboscis, or beak, into the victim's skin. "We originally thought the bedbugs might prefer red because blood is red and that's what they feed on," study co-author Corraine McNeill, an assistant professor of biology at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska, said in a statement. (The researchers say that changing the color of your sheets may be taking the finding too far.) Scientists conducted lab tests with bedbugs and found they sought out shelters, called harborages, that were red or black, while avoiding those denizens with shades of yellow and green. And it turns out, the pests may have favorite colors.
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