Bed Bug Infestation Health Risks And How To Get Rid Of Them From Your Home
Bed bugs have become an increasingly common problem in the U.S. and the entire world, as infestations have increased at an average rate of 50 percent each year over the past ten years. Not only are bed bugs an irritant when they bite your skin, leaving an itching rash and blister, they can also carry disease. Here are some of the health risks from bed bugs and how you can get rid of the bugs from your home.
Health Risks
One of the more dangerous diseases that has been discovered as being able to be carried and spread by bed bugs is from the parasite that causes Chagas disease, Trypanosoma cruzi. This parasite is able to be transmitted from not the bite, but the feces of any feeding bed bugs that are living on and around your bed. Chagas disease is hard to detect early on, as its symptoms usually don't present until later. The parasite hides in your heart and digestive muscle and later can cause cardiac, digestive, or neurological problems, then later can cause heart failure. The longer you are infected with Chagas disease, the less effective treatment drugs become.
Another problem with bed bugs occurs on the bite site of your skin. Some people experience an extreme allergic reaction with swelling and itching around the bed bug bite sites. If you experience multiple bites with an allergic reaction to your skin, you should seek medical attention.
Bed bug bites can also be a problem even if you are not allergic. As you scratch the itchy bug bites, you can pass a secondary skin infection into the wound on your skin. Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) is a strain of bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, commonly found on the skin of healthy people. This staph infection is a life-threatening infection resistant to and difficult to treat with penicillin and some types of antibiotics. The bacteria can cause the skin under the infection to deteriorate. The infection can also spread into your blood stream.
Treatment and Control Options
To eliminate bed bugs from your bed and surrounding space, as they prefer to live within eight feet of where you sleep, first, remove all your blankets and bedding. Wash these in hot water, along with any other soft items in your bedroom that can be washed in your washing machine, to kill any bed bugs and their eggs. Then, dry them for at least 30 minutes.
Vacuum the outsides of your mattress, box springs, and bed frame to remove any bed bugs and their eggs. Also, vacuum around the baseboards and floor in your bedroom. Then, immediately take your vacuum outside, remove the vacuum bag, and place it into a sealed garbage bag in the trash. If you have a bagless vacuum, take and wash the collection compartment outside, using hot water to remove any bugs or eggs. Then, rent a steam cleaner to clean your carpeting, mattress, and box springs to kill any remaining bugs or their eggs. If your bedroom has a couch or other upholstered furniture, steam clean the outside of these too.
When you put your bed back together, sprinkle diatomaceous earth on your mattress and bed where bed bugs like to live. You can find diatomaceous earth at most gardening or home improvement stores. This product is made of tiny, sharp pieces of sedimentary rock, which attach to the bed bugs' bodies as they walk across it. Then, it causes their body to become dehydrated and kills them. Diatomaceous earth also sticks to the bed bugs' legs, causing them to lick it off and ingest it, so the sharp pieces of silica damage them internally and kill them.
If you feel that these efforts have still not eliminated your bed bugs, or you continue to find welts on your body from their biting, you can call a professional pest control company to get rid of your bed bug infestation with pesticides.
Use these tips to understand the health risks associated with bed bugs and how you can get rid of them. If you find that you're having trouble getting rid of them, reach out to a professional and visit a site like http://www.craigandsons.com.