In addition to the fact that the presence of cockroaches in the apartment is simply unpleasant, they can also bite, and quite noticeably - few people know about it.
Agree, in the modern age it is difficult to imagine an environment in which cockroaches can bite people. However, there is indisputable evidence that they can not only eat the skin superficially in some places, but also seriously damage the epidermis up to the occurrence of wounds, blisters and skin erosions.
Often you can find a denial of the fact that domestic cockroaches bite. This is indeed a rather rare occurrence, because in any home for these parasites there will always be food sources in more or less free access.
However, back in the 60s of the last century, American scientists Roth and Willis confirmed about 20 cases when cockroaches bit and gnawed small particles of delicate skin on the neck, elbows, eyelids, fingers in sleeping people, especially in children. In soundly sleeping young children, they could eat particles of skin even in the area of the nose and lips, introducing an infection into the wound, and also gnaw cilia on the eyelids.
A crust usually forms over the site of a cockroach bite, under which the skin becomes inflamed and does not heal for a long time.
It must be said that these parasites have a well-organized oral apparatus for eating and nibbling everything that suits them for food. It includes not only powerful upper and lower jaws, but also hard chitinous “lips”, as well as a semblance of a tongue, also consisting of chitin, so it is not at all surprising that not only exotic species, but also domestic cockroaches can bite a person quite deeply.
Of course, incidents of cockroach bites are not as common as those of mosquitoes, flies, ticks and bedbugs, and are largely due to the lack of water, without which, as you know, cockroaches can live only a few days. In search of water, cockroaches can bite people when they are sleeping and are practically immobilized without presenting a danger.
Cockroaches try to find water in the remains of food around the mouth, in saliva and in tear secretions around the eyes. Also, these insects bite (more precisely, eat the skin) of sleeping people in cases where their populations become so large that they no longer have enough free food to live on. Such cases have been repeatedly recorded on ships, when sailors had to sleep with gloves on due to the fact that ordinary cockroaches gnawed the skin on the fingertips around the nails.
Sadly, cockroach bites still occur today, in the 21st century, and this happens not only in neglected dwellings, as one might immediately think, but sometimes even in quite decent places like hospitals, hostels, kindergartens.
Review:
There are a lot of cockroaches in our hostel. In our block, we tried to destroy them with various means (from boric acid to aerosols against cockroaches).But on our floor there are students who do not fight these insects at all, bring food to the block, and do not take out the garbage for a long time.
It may seem funny and even fantastic, but recently cockroaches have also begun to bite. In the mornings I see real wounds on my body in the area of the fingers and on the face that do not heal for a long time. Before going to bed, I began to constantly smear myself with a mosquito repellant, and, going to bed, I carefully examine it every time for the presence of crumbs.
When I tell my friends about this, in response I hear jokes such as that cockroaches have now disappeared altogether, and assurances that bed bugs or ticks inflict bites on me. However, once I saw with my own eyes how they crawl over a sleeping friend at night. In the morning on her body in places where cockroaches crawled, we found small wounds and redness of the skin. I don't know what else to do!
And further: Cockroaches do not die from aerosols and gels? Perhaps it is worth adopting lethal powders ...
Danger of a cockroach bite
Cockroaches in saliva and other secretions contain a special protein tropomyosin, which provokes the occurrence of allergic attacks, respectively, after cockroaches have bitten a person, he may experience multiple allergic reactions, starting with hives and ending with an asthmatic attack. However, these are not the only possible consequences of cockroach bites:
- After weak or few bites, the places eaten by insects can become inflamed or covered with a long-healing crust or scar, allergic skin reactions such as redness, irritation and various dermatitis can occur.
- There is a possibility of entering into an open wound (even a small one) bacteria located on cockroach legs, among which there may be pathogens of dysentery or tuberculosis.
- It was all about red cockroaches. But after numerous bites of American and Egyptian cockroaches, accompanied by serious eating of the epidermis (more typical for residents of tropical countries), skin erosions, various blisters and papules may occur, which are accompanied by severe pain, purulent crusts and other pyococcal diseases. At the same time, pyoderma (the so-called skin diseases accompanied by pustules) can, of course, have a rapid course and end in a couple of days, but in people with weakened immunity, they can turn into chronic poorly healing ulcers.
Myths about cockroach bites
In addition to the very real negative consequences of cockroach bites, some myths associated with these insects common in everyday life are very popular among the people:
Myth #1. Due to the fact that these parasites are not afraid of radiation, but accumulate it in themselves, a cockroach bite can cause a mutation.
These insects can indeed withstand radiation exposure, 15 times higher than the level dangerous for humans, but there can be no talk of any accumulation of radiation, and even more so, of a mutation transmitted through a bite.
Myth #2. A cockroach bite can cause anaphylactic shock. Allergies in the form of skin itching, watery eyes and even shortness of breath are a fairly common reaction to special substances contained in the saliva of a blood-sucking insect (for example, a mosquito) or in the venom of insects such as a wasp or bee. In some cases, even the development of anaphylactic shock is possible.
Since cockroaches, as a biological species, do not belong to blood-sucking ones, the likelihood of anaphylactic shock on a bite is quite low.
However, a variety of cockroach secretions (chitin shed during molting, saliva, excrement) in themselves can cause a severe allergic attack.
Myth #3. Human hair, nails, and earwax are the cockroaches' favorite food. Cockroaches are known to be omnivores, and this myth appeared, apparently, because of the cases of sailors who, during a long voyage, suffered from numerous bites in the area around the ears, eyes, and fingertips.
On the other hand, with a large concentration of cockroaches in the room, one of them may well go in search of food directly into the human ear. Without being able to climb back out, it can create a health hazard by hurting the person and risking damage to the eardrum.
How to treat a cockroach bite?
If bite marks are found on the body in the morning, then first you need to determine which insect left them, and then contact a dermatologist for appropriate treatment.
Most often, traces on the skin in the form of a path appear from bedbugs, in addition, the bites of blood-sucking insects (bugs, ticks) itch badly due to special substances in their saliva. If there are doubts that it is domestic cockroaches that bite, you need to pay attention to whether the bite looks like a small open wound in places where the skin is more tender compared to other parts of the body. You can even compare this wound with photos of cockroach bites on the Internet for greater certainty.
In any case, you need to treat the wound with an antiseptic such as hydrogen peroxide to prevent infection, and then use an ointment that relieves skin irritation.
From folk recipes: in order to soothe inflamed skin after insect bites, use slurry from plantain or raw potatoes, lotions from black or green tea.
For allergy sufferers, especially those with a pre-existing allergy to insect stings, it is advisable to take a suitable antihistamine.
Measures for the prevention and control of cockroaches
The most effective means of combating domestic cockroaches will be their destruction with modern industrial preparations.
If we are talking about your own apartment or private house, then in order to prevent the penetration of parasites into the bedroom and other residential areas, you should make it a rule not to eat food and any drinks outside the kitchen, to prevent stagnation of water in flower pots.
If the cockroaches are wound up in the hostel, then you will have to combine the efforts of several blocks, and sometimes the whole floor, to destroy the uninvited guests. Several forms of industrial preparations can be used at once, including various traps and insecticidal gels.
What is important to know when choosing a pest control service for the destruction of cockroaches
Details about the fight against cockroaches: a useful video
Informative article, thanks.
good article
And they really bite, experienced by the whole family on themselves.
I was bitten by a cockroach in the leg. And what to do, the inflammation is not big?
Yes, they do bite...
They really bite, they bit my wife and the wound healed for a very long time and became inflamed.
And I keep thinking: maybe it's someone else, but I don't see anyone else.
They were with a five-month-old daughter in a children's hospital with a virus. On the first night, I was shocked by how many cockroaches climbed out, they walked on foot along the nursery crib, along the bedspread with which they covered the sleeping daughter. Frightened - took her to sleep with me. On the second night I woke up, and I had a bunch of cockroaches and my neck was bitten and swollen. I was shocked, I didn’t sleep until the morning - I drove cockroaches away from the child. The lights on didn't bother them. I packed my bags and went home! .. There is no desire to feed cockroaches!
Poison for the Colorado potato beetle. Dissolve the ampoule one to one with car oil. Apply with a brush on the baseboard and around the sink - and say goodbye to cockroaches. The cockroach, moving, feels everything with its antennae, licking them. This is his problem. And with such a concentration of poison, his stomach can not cope. This was my business. Now the cockroaches are completely gone. I share a secret. I watched them for a long time and then it dawned on me. They lick their paws: here you are. And so it turned out.
What is an ampoule?
Poison for the Colorado potato beetle.
And for a cat, this poison will not be fatal?
I don’t have cockroaches, but they crawl from a neighbor. I am persecuted, but after two days I find them again. My neighbor categorically resists. And the whole entrance is on the ears. What to do? Maybe someone will tell?
At home, I found a large black cockroach on the wall and wanted to kill it, it didn’t work out, I ran away. Later, I went to bed with the TV on, the blanket ajar on my back. And someone bit me so hard, it didn't look like a mosquito.As a result, I found two red dots (pits) on my back. It seemed to me that the cockroaches avenged me for the black cockroach - they agreed.
I bought a Blocker (balm in a syringe) for 2-3 months, it is enough and economical. It costs about 34 rubles. There are in stores. At the same time, there should be no sources of water - they drink. Found in dog water bowl and inside tub.
I'll go crazy soon, the cockroaches won. I tried to bring them out with all sorts of syringes and poison with boric acid, there is no water at home. It does not help, so they also began to bite. Please advise what to do?
I fought cockroaches in the kitchen, so they went to live in the room, we don’t eat in the room, there are no crumbs, they eat glue in the furniture and oil on the fasteners of the furniture door. I found empty eggs in the room, which means that a generation has hatched that does not even know about the existence of the kitchen and lives and breeds calmly in the room.
We have cockroaches in our apartment. Poisoning - does not help! They also started biting. What to do? Help.
Bliiin, I was also bitten at a party ... And I saw him on my arm, I can’t go to bed now.
I struggled with reptiles for a long time, not a single expensive remedy helped. I bought "dohlox" gel for 32 rubles. - Died the first time.
I was bitten by a cockroach in my finger and I was worried what would happen to me and how to relieve the itching from the bite, and whether it had affected the body. Thanks for the advice!
We don't have cockroaches. But our neighbor is an alcoholic and a bum. From him they climb a couple of pieces. How and with what to fight them, so that they do not want to climb into us?
I will share my advice, it works 100% and is not for the squeamish.Buy boric acid at a pharmacy, it says “powder”, but there are small granules ... Take a coffee grinder, grind our acid to a state of flour and into some vessel, for example, a jar lid. We remove it to a place accessible to you so that, if necessary, you can immediately take a pinch. Usually you see them in the morning, and so, you don’t need to kill him, but only sprinkle them to make an albino)) And let him run. If the cockroach is on a vertical surface, press it down a little, but not kill it, and also sprinkle it, get warm and run away to its hole. The fact is that boric acid causes a terrible itch in cockroaches, and a sprinkled cockroach in its mink infects its fellows. As a result: after about a week of constant hunting, you will be pleasantly surprised by the absence of these creatures in your apartment ... Until the neighbor poisons himself)) By the way, another good advice - cockroaches are very smart, before they move to you for permanent residence, they send a scout . If you don’t have cockroaches and you suddenly see one, knock yourself into a cake and kill him, otherwise stock up on boric acid, because he will return to his own and say how good you are))
Oh, same story, only with eleven months. Sleeping there is unbearable. And the nurses also tell me: there is nothing terrible here, they are everywhere, they say, get used to the situation. And the fact that a bitten child is nonsense, it’s not their own children who are lying there ... An hour ago, when I arrived home, I still can’t move away from what I saw.
Yes. Cockroaches really bite. Yesterday they called a specialist, and he treated the whole apartment with chemicals. Most of them withered away. And just now something bit me on the thigh, and I turned around and saw that a cockroach was sitting on my thigh. I killed him.Now I have a blister on my leg, similar to a mosquito bite, only wide. It does not itch, but unpleasant sensations when I touch it, and a slight numbness at the site of the bite. Now I have experienced it myself and am now 100% sure that cockroaches really bite.
From severe itching and swelling from a bite, garlic helped me well. Grate with garlic or squeeze out a little and grease well with cream so as not to burn. At hand was "Bepanten", bribed his "wound healing and antiseptic" effect. In the morning there was only a hole from the bite, the itching went away in a few minutes, the swelling went away overnight.
I was bitten by a cockroach on the leg, I combed it, now the floor of the leg is swollen. How to treat, tell me?
I'm afraid that cockroaches not only eat people ... But I heard that they willingly eat both wires and plastic if they have nothing to eat. It's good that the laptop was not gobbled up! Well, 3 years ago there was a case: I bought inexpensive poison - gel. I placed cartons with poison in places where these parasites accumulated, they ate, called their "friends", they also ate disgusting food. For 4 days they disappeared, but one thing: the corpses were lying around: \ They didn’t bite me. Dad brought cockroaches in a suitcase ...
But these creatures in 3 years now again.
Terrible insects. Of course, they didn’t bite me, and in general, I heard about it for the first time from a friend, but now it’s very difficult to get rid of them. They even bought this thing with radiation waves. The first day, something began to swarm, and on the second, as if nothing had happened, only my head ached. The only thing that cockroaches are afraid of is frost, like other insects. You just need to open the windows in winter, create, so to speak, a tannery, and leave for a while yourself.Just do not try to throw the corpses in the trash, they can wake up and start crawling again.
At night I got up to drink water and saw a cockroach behind the stove, he managed to leave, but I somehow feel uneasy. We will poison in every possible way!
I was bitten by a cockroach on the neck, and so far there is nothing.
I was bitten by a cockroach - I got up in the morning, something was burning my side. There was redness and itching, so I treated it with 3% peroxide and smeared it with an antimicrobial agent (streptocide). It was very painful and the redness lasted for a long time. Just do not scratch, and so everything went.
Cockroaches started up from the neighbors ... Mom says: "Dichlorvos." And I don't think it will help. And we have a small child.
We also have a terrible case: cockroaches crawl over children, I don’t sleep at night, they piss! Now I’m lying, a red cockroach is crawling on the bed, and the eldest son has a bite on his side, like an eaten skin. It scratches him almost to the point of blood. What to do, how to poison these creatures?
I beg your pardon, wet them - who is this? Children or cockroaches?
The day before yesterday I stayed with a friend, and these creatures (not friends, but cockroaches - I will call them maxims in the future) bit my elbows! Nothing itches. I don't like maxims at all. But until that moment, I didn’t care about them! But the bites of maxims burn like an abrasion.
Not Maxims but Stasiki call them. Today I have 15 bites a night, itching is impossible. By the way, I advise everyone Agran. There was no year, although we live in a hostel, there are a lot of them in the common bath. Looks like a year later she brought it to the room on plates when she washed it. I will use this tool again.
Where to buy such a tool?
Lord, I haven't seen cockroaches for 10 years! I thought they were extinct, but no, bastards! Moreover, huge black cockroaches appeared in the apartment. What are they terrible and arrogant. Traps do not help, you have to buy an even stronger tool. I also wrote an ad for the entire entrance, so that everyone would poison everyone together on the weekend. They say otherwise.
Cockroaches can get into your ear, I'm very afraid ...
Yes, cockroaches bite. Bites appeared on the body - at first I thought it was mosquitoes, but one night I watched a movie and saw that he was crawling! Help how to get rid of them?
There were no cockroaches for 10 years, but after they were poisoned in the neighboring house where the store is located, I simply did not believe that cockroaches could march in the direction of our house - 5-10 cm wide and along the entire length of 20 meters. Among the white day! Creatures! Now I can't get rid of them. Give advice. Dichlorvos and a syringe with gel do not help!
A strange thing happened to me one day. August, I’m on the bus, I suddenly feel that someone is biting my arm just below the elbow (on the back). I automatically take pictures - and oh, horror, a cockroach! I threw him off myself. At the dacha I go to sleep, I feel that again, in approximately the same place, someone is crawling. I grab and throw it on the floor over my sleeping husband. I quickly get up, turn on the light, but it's too late, no one is there anymore. I think he had a mustache, since he didn’t bite. It just became terrifying - one day it happened. They brought it to the dacha with a microwave, which was at home before. The bastards bred very quickly.
Fuck, do they really bite ... We have a lot of them - both dead and alive. We poison them, they die, but still they crawl from somewhere, because they come from the first floor, from the basement.Rented apartment, nothing to do here, in August we will move out anyway. It’s unrealistic to live like this, it’s scary that it will climb at night. It is impossible to swim normally - I swim and see a cockroach crawling from above. I screamed so loud that all the neighbors must have heard.
I found this article because I got bitten by a cockroach last night, this has never happened before! I am surprised.