Is infestation with the common bedbug increasing?
BMJ 2000; 320 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.320.7242.1141 (Published 22 April 2000) Cite this as: BMJ 2000;320:1141All rapid responses
Rapid responses are electronic comments to the editor. They enable our users to debate issues raised in articles published on bmj.com. A rapid response is first posted online. If you need the URL (web address) of an individual response, simply click on the response headline and copy the URL from the browser window. A proportion of responses will, after editing, be published online and in the print journal as letters, which are indexed in PubMed. Rapid responses are not indexed in PubMed and they are not journal articles. The BMJ reserves the right to remove responses which are being wilfully misrepresented as published articles or when it is brought to our attention that a response spreads misinformation.
From March 2022, the word limit for rapid responses will be 600 words not including references and author details. We will no longer post responses that exceed this limit.
The word limit for letters selected from posted responses remains 300 words.
Paul and Bates' letter about bedbugs ( BMJ Vol 320 22.4.00 )
encouraged me re-read a delightful book entitled " The Minor Horrors of
War " published in 1915. The author was Dr A E Shipley, Master of
Christ's College, Cambridge and Reader in Zoology in the
University. He describes the habits of many parasites including lice,
fleas, mites, ticks and leeches and includes a detailed chapter
on bedbugs. Quoted is the poem of an American author who emphasises the
remarkable power of the bed bug to seek out its
victim:-
The Lightning-bug has wings of gold,
The June-bug wings of flame,
The Bed-bug has no wings at all,
But it gets there all the same!
The various chapters were first published in the British Medical
Journal and the book was published with the permission of the editor
and proprietors. Presumably the intention was to make it readily
available for the troops serving in France during the Great War.
Dr R E Stewart,
retired general practitioner
9C/1 Merchiston Park,
Edinburgh, EH10 4PW
Competing interests: No competing interests
'Big bugs have little bugs
upon their backs to bite'em
And little bugs have smaller bugs
and so on ...ad infinitum '
This ditty came to mind on reading Dr Anand's entertaining and cogent
response to Paul and Bates editorial question 'Is infestation with the
common bed bug increasing ?' (BMJ 2000; 320: 1141 ). Dr Anand's
thoughts, regarding mechaanical transmission of certain viral infections
(hepatitis and HIV) -'If a needle-stick can result in such transmission
then it stands to reason that so can a bed bug bite', beg further
questions and pondering the imponderable.
Has anyone for instance ever tested bed-bug blood for HIV ?. Is
this feasible or physiological ?. Are there problems here with informed
consent or a danger that the bed bug may be unnecessarily stigmatized !?.
On the other hand if true would not such a finding destigmatize the STD
connotation of HIV itself rendering unconstrained early screening
procedures more appropriate ?.
If there is any element of possibility in Dr Anand's inference an
urgent rethink of HIV/AIDS policy is indicated. Such a finding as with
needlestick infection itself would add one more nail to the coffin of HIV
exceptionalism.
James E Parker
Competing interests: No competing interests
Editor - Paul and Bates(1) give a welcome wake-up call to slumbering
doctors. However, I am itching to say that they have over-simplified
things a bit. Firstly, although the Common bed bug is C. lectularius, the
tropical bed bug is C.hemipterus, also known as C. rotundus. There may be,
by
now, hybrid forms.
Leptocimex biueti is an African bed bug.
Paul and Bates cite Patton(2) in support of the statement that bed
bugs can survive six months without feeding. However, according to Jameson
and Parkinson (3), bed bugs can survive without food for "about one year
and even longer under certain conditions." Although blood is essential
food for these bugs, in the absence of Homo sapiens they will make do with
other mammals and even birds. The length of survival of these bugs could
be of importance when considering the possibility of mechanical
transmission of certain viral infections (hepatitis or HIV for example)
by the bite of a bed bug. If a needle-stick can result in such
transmission, then it stands to reason that so can a bed bug bite.
Paul and Bates raise the possibility of an increase in bed bug
infestation. Whilst it would be impossible to arrange an accurate census,
Paul and Bates could, if they wish, ask the Environmental Health Officers
and the MOsEH for the data they hold. (Before the 1974 Reorganisation of
the
NHS, the MOH would have been able to assist in such matters.)
J K ANAND (retired public health physician)
References:
1. Paul J, BatesJ. Is infestation with the common bed bug increasing? BMJ
2000;320: 1141
2. Patton WS. , Insects, Ticks and venomous animals of medical and
veterinary importance. PartII, Croydon:Grubb, 1931
3. Jameson and Parkinson' Synopsis of Hygiene.Editors : Llwelyn
Roberts and Shaw. 1952, p 249.
Competing interests: No competing interests
Can bed bugs attach to you if you go into a room in day time
I found a bed bug on my hand to day.
Yesterday I entered a void flat to assess how much property
was to be moved. Will I have to have my flat fumigated!!!
Competing interests: No competing interests