How bugs can be dangerous to humans

Among all human parasites, bedbugs are one of the most unpleasant. In some cases (even if we do not take into account the harm that these insects can cause), one of their appearance and lifestyle features cause real hysteria in especially impressionable people: they look like cockroaches we hate, drink blood at night and crawl in bed. But these unpleasant moments are only the beginning of all troubles.

Why are bed bugs dangerous to humans? First of all, of course, with their bites, which can cause serious diseases and disorders. Moreover, the more bedbugs in the room, the more dangerous the consequences of their constant attacks.

It is interesting

Epidemiologists note a constant increase in the number of bedbugs in developed countries. So, for example, in Florida over the past decade, the number of bedbugs inhabiting residential premises has increased 10 times. If we talk about this country as a whole, then already in 2007, 80% of urban apartments in the United States were ever infected with bedbugs. The situation is similar in Europe: in London, the number of indoor treatments from these pests increases by about a quarter every year. In Sweden, the largest share of bedbug-infested housing is in the state capital, Stockholm.As you can see, bedbugs have long been a worldwide problem.

 

Bed bug bites and their effects

Now let's take a closer look at the main threat from these insects. As mentioned above, bedbugs are dangerous precisely because of their way of life: in order to live, they must constantly bite a person and feed on his blood. At the same time, the very moment of piercing the skin is generally painless, but a few minutes later the victim will feel severe itching, because. in the process of sucking blood, the insect injects saliva into the wound, the enzymes of which prevent it from coagulating.

In general, the mechanism of this process is similar to mosquito bites, therefore, often, especially with a few attacks, the wounds that appear on the skin may not even attract attention. Slight redness remains at the site of the bites with a visible dot in the center, but if a person does not have special sensitivity, then he may not even suspect that dangerous bed bugs have settled in his house, and attribute everything to habitual mosquitoes or allergies.

Another thing is if during the night a person has already been bitten by several parasites. In this case, their bites begin to cause a distinct and constantly tormenting itch, and the area where the wounds are the most may even be covered with secondary allergic rashes.

It should be noted that with an increased individual sensitivity of a person, an allergy can go far beyond a simple rash - a headache, nausea appear, the temperature rises, and the lymph nodes increase.

Review

“For a long time I could not understand what was happening to my child. He is only a year old, he cannot even show a finger, he simply does not sleep at night, he constantly cries, he is nervous during the day.I constantly saw some kind of bites on it, but I thought it was mosquitoes, I had already tried all the remedies for them, until, finally, I found a random bug. At first I didn’t even recognize it, I thought it was a cockroach, and then, as I thought, my hair on my head was already moving. For a week I poisoned them with everything I could, I myself poisoned myself, I carried the baby to my grandmother at night. Forgive me, my dear, for this month and a half of a nightmare.

Lydia, Tomsk

One more point can be highlighted regarding the danger of bed bugs for humans. As already mentioned, the enzymes of the saliva of these parasites cause unbearable itching in the victim. Under the condition of constant combing of bites (which is especially important in young children, because they are not able to endure), open wounds form in their place, into which various pathogenic bacteria can penetrate, causing pustular inflammation.



In addition, bedbugs are also dangerous because they interfere with normal sleep, and in conditions of systematic night attacks, the victim may well “earn” a sleep disorder. A person who wakes up from itching, firstly, is not able to fall asleep for a long time, and secondly, finding the bugs themselves in his bed, he experiences real stress, which can have far-reaching psychological consequences.

There are cases when spouses, irritated and exhausted by parasites, constantly quarrel and even get divorced against the backdrop of an ineffective fight against bedbugs.

 

Why are bed bugs dangerous for children?

Bed bugs are especially dangerous for children: the skin of babies is very delicate and sensitive, immunity is still being formed, so itching from bites is more painful for them, and allergies are protracted and deep.

In addition, numerous bites can lead to iron deficiency anemia, which sometimes ends in various difficult consequences for a vulnerable child's body. However, in some adults this factor cannot be discounted: serious biting of pregnant women can lead to unpredictable consequences for both the mother and the unborn child.

In general, in the apartment where the child lives, bed bugs can be most dangerous, so you need to get them out of here as soon as possible.

 

Do bed bugs carry AIDS, hepatitis and other infections?

There is an opinion that bed bugs are also dangerous because they carry pathogens of various human diseases.

However, this is not entirely true.

Indeed, over the entire period of observation in the organisms of bed bugs from different countries, pathogens of such infections as:

• Hepatitis B
• plague
• typhus
• relapsing fever
• Q fever
• tularemia
• yellow fever
• leprosy
• tuberculosis
• filariasis
• syphilis
• leishmaniasis.

However, despite the rather serious list, none of the studies revealed reliable facts of the transmission of these infections from an infected person to a healthy one.

Getting acquainted with the issue of the transfer of serious human diseases by bed bugs, one cannot help but dwell on one of the most formidable world problems - the immunodeficiency virus.

Special experiments have shown that bedbugs can accumulate virions of retroviruses in their digestive tract, of which the most famous is HIV. However, even if present in the body of this insect, the immunodeficiency virus itself does not multiply, and moreover, passing through the digestive tract of the insect, it is excreted with excrement.

In other words, bedbug bites cannot cause HIV infection: even if the pathogen enters their body, it is not transmitted to a new victim when bitten.

However, it is still possible to catch some dangerous diseases through bedbugs. So, for example, observations show that the hepatitis B virus and some other infectious agents can remain in the excrement of bedbugs for up to several days, which means that a person, accidentally touching the place where they were left with his hand, may well “catch” the infection.



The second possible variant of infection is inhalation. Inhaling dust with the waste products of these insects, a person is also at risk of infection.Therefore, the more bedbugs in the room, the more different people there are in it, the worse its general sanitary and epidemiological condition.

Thus, drawing simple conclusions, one can understand that the most dangerous in this regard can be hotels (especially those that already have a very low cost of living), field hospitals, refugee camps and places where the homeless gather.

On a note

Living in the tropics of South America, the so-called kissing bugs are dangerous because they carry the causative agent of Chagas disease, and the frequency of infection by insects is very high. This disease in many cases leads to disability or death. Bed bugs, in turn, are also carriers of the causative agent of Chagas disease, but there are no documented facts of infecting people with them.

 

Bed bugs as a cause of psychological and family problems

As mentioned above, in addition to obvious infectious diseases, bedbugs are quite dangerous as a cause of serious psychological problems. Science has proven that mental disorders can also cause somatic malfunctions of the human body, so you should not ignore this aspect of the forced neighborhood with bed bugs.

Many people are terrified of insects, and the mere thought of the possible presence of a bug in their bed does not allow them to fall asleep normally. This is especially true for women and children: psychiatrists regularly record the development of phobias in young children and adolescents who have experienced serious bedbug bites. In this case, the victims of bloodsuckers become overly excitable, aggressive, do not sleep well at night, they may develop a nervous tic.

In addition, itching from bites and constant checking of the bed at night disrupts sleep, deprives a person of normal rest, leads to the development of nervousness, a feeling of constant fatigue, and stress.

In the daytime, this responds with a decrease in working capacity, a deterioration in mood, and sometimes quarrels in the family.

Important!

Very often, bed bugs bite only one person, even when a couple or a couple with a child is sleeping in the room. The constant “groundless” complaints of one bitten spouse and misunderstanding on the part of the other, who is not attacked by bedbugs, can first lead to irritation of partners, and then even to serious conflicts in a couple.

 

Other biting bugs

If we talk about these blood-sucking parasites in general, it should be noted that not only representatives of the Bed bug family are dangerous to humans.

So, water bugs of the genus Gladysh (family Gladysh) are called water wasps for their very painful injections. And the bugs of the Water scorpion family leave a serious tumor after their bite, which can hurt for several days.

One of the largest bugs in general - the giant belostoma, sometimes feeding on young frogs and fish fry - also bites amazingly painfully and is a real scourge of river and lake beaches in North America.

However, in fairness, it is worth saying that in general, all these bugs bite a person only for the purpose of self-defense. If they are not touched and accidentally stepped on, they will try to avoid any contact with a person.

Other numerous and very common bugs both in nature and in settlements - the stink bug, the Italian shield bug or the harmful turtle bug - can be dangerous only because they leave an extremely unpleasant odor on their hands. Therefore, they, too, should not be disturbed for no reason, and when removing them from the apartment, it is recommended to observe maximum delicacy.

 

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