Daily Archives: June 2, 2014

The Culprit

Most people find bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) a most disagreeable houseguest. These parasites are usually no more than inch in length in their adult state and can engorge themselves with human blood in less than 15 minutes causing their bodies to fill to as much as three times its usual size. Fully engorged bed bugs bear little resemblance to their original state and are often thought to be a different insect altogether.

Bed bugs can lay between one and five eggs per day with an incubation period of 10 days in warm weather (slightly longer when cool). These newly hatched bed bugs will require five significant blood feedings to reach adult size. They will molt in between feedings by shedding their exoskeleton. One mature they will begin the process of laying new eggs.

Adult female bedbugs can lay more than 200 eggs during their lifetime and the new generation of bed bugs will immediately seek a blood meal and they might be looking at you through hungry compound eyes. When they are finished eating they leave tiny sores to remind you of their midnight binge.

There are other types of bed bugs including the bat bug, the chimney swift bug and the swallow bug. All of these relatives survive on blood feeding, however these secondary parasites thrive on either bats or birds as their primary victims.

Bed bugs feed on the blood of human beings but can suck blood from other animals as well. Birds and mice are the most common animals. Bed bugs most often feed at nightime when people are asleep. When they feed, they inject a salivary secretion into the wound to prevent coagulation. The fluid can cause a persons skin to itch and even become swollen. Scratching can cause sores which often become infected. Bed bugs are not known to transmit any human blood-borne pathogens.

An adult bed bug is about 1/5-inch long, oval in shape and flat. Theyre generally brown except after sucking blood. Their body then becomes swollen and the color changes to a dark red.

Bed bugs like to hide in the cracks and electical outlets in walls, behind wallpaper, base boards and picture frames, between beds and around the creases of mattresses and in bedding materials. They have a rather pungent odor which is caused by an oil-like liquid they emit. Bed bugs are often carried into houses by clothes, luggage, furniture, and bedding. Or sometimes even by humans.

Bed bugs seek harborage in cracks and crevices. Common harborages in hotel rooms and cruise ship cabins include: folds & creases in bed linens, seams, tufts & under buttons on mattresses, in drapery pleats & hems, beneath loose wallpaper, in headboards, desks, entertainment centers and nightstands, behind base molding in wall-mounted artwork, etc.

Original post:
Bed Bug

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.

Read more here:
Bed bug - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Below youll find comments from visitors around the world that include pictures of themselves covered with bed bug bites; many share their experiences in hopes that youll be able to avoid the pain they suffered along with tips on treating the bites and more. Great information here!

Besides the pictures in the comments below, Ive also included 5 images (click on each to see larger version) of a bedbug infested mattress.

Here is a picture of Vanessas young son who after going to to doctor was told the bites were from bed bugs. As you can see from the picture to your right, they can be damaging! Its important not to scratch these bites as doing so will cause scabbing and could leave a scar! Click on the image to enlarge. The full story about their family vacation gone wrong is found below.

This image, is from Ava, is of her neck after being bitten up by bed bugs. Her son had being bitten up for many months, the doctors suggested scabies or fleas but couldnt tell for sure and a search of the house didnt turn up anything. A few months later when her son complained of his skin crawling in the middle of the night, Ava found discovered his bedframe and mattress were completely covered in them they were in the middle of the attack! She also covers what she used to repel the bugs in her comment.

Below is a story by Rob who had a number of bites and after a lot of research found out that indeed he had bed bugs thanks for sharing Rob!

I just discovered the cause of my skin reaction this morning. Been spending a lot of time at a friends place and the week of Halloween started to get red spots that were intense in the itch. It just got worse and worse. Dermatologist did a biopsy and found no bacteria or virus. Skin scrapping found no fungus. It was a matter of finding out what was causing it as the my skin was swollen to the point of hiding any bite markings. It only affected my legs, feet, arms, upper back, chest, neck, and shoulders. No midsection bites.

On Tuesday my arm was getting really bad after spending the night at my friends place. At home I got out of the shower and by my jeans I found what I thought was a tick. I killed it and tossed it. Called the doctor and said my arm was very bad and mentioned the bug. He saw me that day and put me on predisone. Last night I took the antihistamine rx he gave me and it knocked me out as its stronger than benedryl. I feel asleep on my friends shaggy carpet for about an hour and half. Woke up and was sitting on the sofa when I saw what I thought to be a tick run across my shorts.

Im a huge bug scardy pants and called my friend to remove the bug but not kill it as the doctor wanted me to try and capture any bug I found. Brought it in this morning as he was removing the stitches from the biopsy and he looked it up. Showed me the stripes on the body under a magnifying glass matching the images from his book. Read to me how some people experience intense reactions like I was showing while my friend only has bite marks.

Read more:
Bed Bug Bites Pictures and Photos of Bedbug Attacks

Mosquito bites are caused by small winged insects which suck your blood.

Mosquitoes are far more dangerous than bed bugs because they transmit diseases, such as Malaria and West Nile Virus.

Bed bugs are not known to spread disease. This is not a conclusive fact, but there is no proof that they spread anything dangerous to people.

Scientists do keep an eye on epidemiology, just in case this changes.

The diameter of a mosquito bite can be quite large. Irritation almost always begins at the onset of the bite, which does not happen with bed bug bites.

In the center of a mosquito bite is a white with a raised center surrounded by redness.

Bed bug bites are never white. They are even, flat bites, which are reddish in color.

Mosquito bites resolve themselves faster than bed bug bites.

The antigen that mosquito use is not nearly as long lasting as those of bed bug bites.

An exception to this rule is people who are allergic to mosquito bites.

See the rest here:
Mosquito Bite Pictures Vs Bed Bug Bite Pictures