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Bedbug bites: symptoms and how to get rid
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Since bedbug bites disturb people in the 21st century, and few know what to do when bedbugs bite, we tried to collect as much useful information as possible in this article.
The variety of bedbugs — the arthropod insects of the Hemiptera order — is striking, but let's start with the ones that bother the human most.
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Epidemiology
Statistics show that over the past two decades, the number of cases of infection of premises with bedbugs is increasing globally, and, in addition to developing countries, the invasion of arthropods is noted in Europe, the USA, Canada and Australia. In Canada from 1995 to 2005 a third of the residents of dormitories and hotel guests and furnished rooms complained about bedbug bites. In the UK, this figure increased by 24%, while experts from the American National Pest Control Association reported an increase in the number of calls for bedbugs between 2000 and 2005 by 72%.
Causes of the bedbug bites
The usual domestic bloodsucker, that is, the hematophagous Cimex lectularius (bed bug), lives mainly in regions with a temperate climate. And no matter how you call them, the bite of a sofa bedbug, the bite of a domestic bedbug or the bite of a bedbug - in fact, the same bedbug bites you (which can live in your sofa or in the bedding drawer) ). Bedbugs are easy to hide anywhere, but the main thing for them is to find a place closer to sleeping people, since it is difficult for them to travel more than three meters. And to wait for daylight, insects choose such secluded places as the seams of a mattress or sofa upholstery, cracks in the walls, crevices in wooden furniture, etc.
In addition to Cimex lectularius, which satisfy hunger with human blood, the Cimicinae subfamily includes another type of bed bugs - Cimex hemipterus, living in tropical or warm regions, including Africa, Asia, and the southern US states. So the inhabitants of Florida or Louisiana are biting precisely these heat-loving blood-sucking ectoparasites.
By the way, bedbug larvae bites are possible, since these insect entomologists refer to the Hemimetabolous order, that is, the metamorphosis that does not go through a full cycle: after they leave the eggs, nymph larvae resemble an adult insect. They feed on their own and gradually (from one molt to another) reach the adult stage.
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Symptoms of the bedbug bites
What does a bug bite look like? In most cases, the marks of bedbugs have the appearance of isolated red papules or nodules on the skin - with a red swollen area and a dark red center. These traces, in essence, are the first signs of superficial entomosis, which, in the case of bug bites, is called chemipterosis by specialists.
Swelling from a bug bite occurs because, biting a man, an insect injects tissue puncture and sucking blood injects secretions of the salivary glands, reducing the sensitivity of the skin (therefore, the bite itself is not felt) and slows down blood coagulation. The pathogenesis of reddening of the skin is associated with the fact that local protection (cellular immunity) responds to damage to the integrity of the epidermis and the introduction of foreign substances into its surface layer; for the same reason, small pustules or blisters from bedbug bites up to 4-5 cm in diameter appear. When there are several pustules, one can often observe their location by a group or a zigzag line - a whole path of bug bites is formed, and these are distinctive symptoms of chemipterosis.
The insect prefers to feed on the open areas of the body of a sleeping person, so in most cases the bugs bite on the face, legs, arms, neck and just above the shoulder blades are found.
In this case, the itch of the bug bite may not begin immediately: it all depends on the individual level of sensitivity. In some people, the reaction to the bite develops within a few days, and some (about 20%) do not feel itching at all.
Similarly, the bites of bedbugs during pregnancy, as well as the bedbug bite in a child of any age, manifest themselves.
How many bedbug bites pass? Usually, itchy red spots from bites disappear on their own within one to two weeks.
Also read - Bedbug Bites
Complications and consequences
The bites of bed bugs themselves, as a rule, do not represent a health hazard, since the involvement of these insects in the spread of human pathogens (HIV, S. Aureus, hepatitis, etc.) has not been identified by researchers to date. However, some suggest that bugs, like many arthropods, can transfer arboviruses from warm-blooded animals to humans in a transmissive way.
People whose homes are bedbugs often have trouble sleeping (due to severe itching bites). But the main consequences and complications are an allergy to bedbug bites, especially with increased reactivity of the immune system. That's when a rash from bedbug bites or urticaria can appear on the background of bedbug bites.
Thus, the development of an entomotic allergic reaction in the form of angioedema to a bedbug bite in a child suffering from diathesis is possible, and in adults with asthma with symptoms of anaphylactic shock requiring emergency medical care.
In addition, infections can easily get into the scratching of itchy bites, causing skin inflammation.
And there is also the possibility of anemia: as reported in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, in 2009, doctors diagnosed anemia in a 60-year-old patient caused by blood loss from bedbug bites.
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Diagnostics of the bedbug bites
Diagnostics begins with the collection of indisputable evidence of involvement in bedbug bites, in particular, a thorough examination of the bed.
Traces of insects can be found in the folds of the mattress and other places where they can hide. For example, you can find pale yellow shell of the bug larvae (empty exoskeletons), which they periodically discard in the process of molting. Bedbugs also leave small brown "grains of sand" of excrement, often collected as spots: it is enough to wipe them with a damp cloth and they will become red-rusty in color (due to the presence of blood particles). You can also notice small blood smears on the sheets, if the drunk bug was accidentally crushed.
By the way, antibodies in the bite of a bug in the blood can be detected only in the event of an allergic reaction, when urticaria appears on the background of bedbug bites.
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Differential diagnosis
Differential diagnosis is necessary, as bedbug bites can be mistaken for bites of fleas, mosquitoes or other blood-sucking insects.
How to distinguish a flea bite from bedbug bites? Flea bites are localized, usually on the lower legs - in the ankles.
How to distinguish a mosquito bite from a bug bite? The trail of a mosquito bite appears in the form of a rapidly increasing round swelling, in some cases a small dot can be seen in its center. In addition, at the moment of the bite the person can feel a burning sensation. The "lump" at the site of the mosquito attack quickly turns red, it feels hard and itches very much.
How to distinguish scabies from bedbug bites? Scabies more often occur in the wrists and fingers, in the elbows and under the knees, on the buttocks and thighs, on the face and on the scalp. And the main differences between lichen bites and bedbugs are that with any kind of lichen, desquamation (peeling) of the skin is always observed.
In addition, bedbug bites should be differentiated from dermatological diseases such as erythema nodosum; bullous or herpetiform dermatitis; acute febrile dermatosis associated with leukemia (Sweet syndrome).
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Forest and green bug bites
The superfamily of the Pentatomoidea up — shields or shield bugs — belong to the sub-order Heteropterans, numbering almost seven thousand species. All of them, and even their nymph larvae on the abdomen, have glands that secrete a fetid liquid — the main defense against potential enemies. Why and got the name of the bug stinker.
Most species of land bugs, for example, the harmful turtle (Eurygaster integriceps) or the brown-gray marble bug (Halyomorpha Halys) are known pests. For example, a marble stink bug pierces the seeds and fruits of legumes, fruits, berries and vegetables and sucks their juice with their proboscis. That is, these insects are phytophagous. So a stink bug bite is theoretically impossible.
Like the bite of a forest bug, Pentatoma rufipes (Red Shvennik), Elasmucha grisea (Gray Shivnik) or Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale (Deciduous Kalevik), since all of them are phytophagous, and their diet is only vegetable food.
Some woody bugs belong to predators, more precisely, to predators: with their style moving forward from the jaws, they pierce the caterpillars, and with their proboscis they suck the liquid out of them. In the saliva of these bugs there are digestive enzymes that they release into the victim's body, which makes it easier to extract pre-digested prey contents. It is clear that a person is not among the potential victims of a hungry forest bug.
Is it possible to bite a green bug? Palomena prasina, a woody green shield shale most prevalent in our latitudes, lives in deciduous plantings, green bugs of the species Nezara viridula and Acrosternum hilare - in gardens, in the fields, in the grass. Both are phytophagous. But the green bug of Troilus luridus is a predator, but it hunts only caterpillars and larvae of beetles.
At the end of autumn insects are looking for a warm place for wintering and can crawl or fly into houses and apartments. But whether they can bite people is unknown.
But Anthocoris nemorum flower bugs (having a tiny oval body, reflective wings and orange-brown limbs) peacefully sit on flowering plants in parks and gardens, but... Waiting for their potential food - aphids and ticks. British entomologists claim that this insect can, if necessary, behave aggressively and bite a person: the bite will itch for a long time and heal slowly, but it is absolutely not dangerous for health.
Water bug bite
Water bugs belong to the suborder Heteroptera, the Nepoidea superseed, the water strider family (Infraorder Nepomorpha), the Dipsocoromorpha subfamily. The most common are rod-shaped water striders (Hydrometridae) and ten species of common water strider bugs (Gerridae Hemiptera).
They have adapted to life on the surface of fresh water and are moving along it due to the presence on their paws and the body of many water-repellent villi; food for water striders are smaller insects that accidentally fell into the water. Man, they do not bite.
But there is the genus Lethocerus of the family Belostomatidae - the largest water bugs (can be up to 12 cm long), which lives in rivers and lakes of North and South America, in East Asia and in northern Australia. Here they are - the real predators that feed on water worms, snails, crustaceans, fish and frogs. And the bite of the water bug-lettserus is considered one of the most painful among insect bites. But from a medical point of view, it is harmless. And the insect bites a person extremely rarely: it usually throws fetid liquid out of its abdominal gland and immediately pretends to be dead.
Kiss the bug
The bite of the kissing bug is a real threat to life and health - the Triatoma infestans triatomic hematofag (its other names are the American predator bug, the Chagas bug, the cone-bearing bug), mainly inhabiting the countries of South and Central America.
This bug carries one-cell parasites of trypanosomes (Trypanosoma cruzi), which cause dangerous Chagas disease, resulting in impaired functioning of the human heart, digestive system and nervous system. According to some reports, today 16-18 million people worldwide are infected with trypanosomes.
Researchers note that in the past decade and a half, another subspecies of triatomid bugs has intensified in Vietnam - Triatoma rubrofasciata or a large kissing bug that lives near human dwellings (in firewood, in dumps, in chicken coops). In large cities (Hanoi, Danang, Ho Chi Minh City), these bugs tempt tenants of multi-storey houses at night.
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Treatment of the bedbug bites
As a rule, the treatment of homebug bites is good hygiene and minimal symptomatic therapy to reduce itching and prevent secondary skin infections.
And to the question - is it possible to wash after the bites of bedbugs, the doctors answer in the affirmative, but they advise you not to rub the bites with a washcloth.
How to remove itching from bedbug bites? And how to smear bedbugs bites? As an effective remedy for bedbug bites, antihistamine ointments are recommended. Psilo-balm and Fenistil gel bites of bedbugs - read Fenistil for allergies
But in case of severe itching, it is advisable to use antihistamine tablets for bedbug bites: Suprastin, Tavegil, Loratadin, Zyrtec, Trexil.
Helps to relieve the itching and scratching accelerate healing application external agents with corticosteroids: ointments hydrocortisone, prednisolone, Oksikort, Akriderma, flutsinar etc. How to use and which can be side effects, discussed in detail in the publication -. Hormonal ointments allergy
Antiseptic ointments, gels, creams, sprays offered in pharmacies can be used to prevent infections at the site of combed bites. It is possible to apply Nizulin cream (with chamomile extract), also suitable for extracts of chamomile, train, plantain or D-panthenol for children against mosquito bites and bedbugs.
To treat the skin to avoid secondary infection can be antiseptic spray Chlorhexidine or Furozol. Zinc oxide-containing suspension Zindol from bedbugs bites quickly relieves weeping inflammations that often develop when combing the skin. But with the beginning of suppuration of the combed place, ointments like Levomekol, Levosin, Streptonitol, Baneotsin, Sulfargin will help best.
An alternative treatment suggests applying medicinal plant leaves (peppermint, plantain, linden) to the bites, as well as greasing the bitten place with garlic juice or onions. The effectiveness of these methods has not been tested by anyone, but a compress with a solution of baking soda, in fact, reduces itching. It is also good to handle the bites of alcohol infusion marigold, St. John's wort or propolis.
Prevention
According to entomologists, bugs do not distinguish between cleanliness and clutter in the house, but restoring order can still help reduce the number of shelters for insects. But the real prevention implies the complete destruction of parasites, carried out by specialists-disinsectors.
It is also necessary to carry out chemical treatment of all bedding, furniture (beds, sofas), carpets. You may have to get rid of heavily infected things.
Keep in mind that bugs die at temperatures above + 50 ° C and below -18 ° C, so you can either evaporate or freeze them.
Conventional repellents, in particular, sprays from bedbugs, as well as sprayed detergents for ticks and mosquitoes, are often ineffective. Therefore, to attempt to protect themselves from insect bites with their help is not recommended. Sleep with the included light also does not hold back hungry bugs.
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Forecast
In the predominant majority of cases, the prognosis for bedbug bites is favorable.