This video made by National Geographic has some really enlightening and educational information about bed bugs. It sheds some light of the feeding habits of bed bugs and allows you to see actual bed bugs feeding.

Click here to learn more about bed bugs.

Bed bugs survive on the blood of warm-blooded mammals. They are known as nocturnal insects since they tend to feed and usually come out of hiding at night-time.

While humans sleep, bed bugs extract blood in a very painless fashion. During their feeding time, they inject their saliva into your skin. The saliva contains anticoagulants and anesthetics. Bed bugs usually only feed for five minutes at a time. Those five minutes of feeding can keep the bed bugs filled up for a long period of time, so even if they do not have another immediate host, they can survive. If they cannot find a human, they would then feed on the blood of next closest warm-blooded host, such as a dog, cat, or other pet.

It’s easy for one to confuse a mosquito bite for a bed bug bite. So how do you determine if a bite on your skin is a bed bug bite? Research has said that bed bugs bite in a linear pattern of three bites so if you have three consecutive bites about your skin then you have been bitten by a bed bug. Some people even refer to these bites as “Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner”. Bites from bed bugs are usually red in appearance and can be either flat or raised bumps.

Many people react differently to bed bug bites. Some bites might show up immediately where as others may not see signs up to nine days after being bitten. In some people the bites do not show up at all. This makes it hard to determine if there is a bed bug infestation present in the home or not. To many, bed bug bites may even eventually lead to moderate to severe allergic reactions. Other symptoms of bed bug bites may include going into a state of shock, nausea, and even feelings of illness. Luckily these allergic reactions are not very common.

As of late, there are several stories in the news, about bed bugs carrying diseases, and transmitting them to their victims. This isn’t hard to imagine, because other blood-feeding parasites, such as mosquitoes, are disease vectors, transmitting malaria, yellow fever, and even the deadly West Nile virus.

Well, thankfully with bed bugs, this is not the case. It seems one of the threats they do pose to humans, however,  is the actual infestations themselves, which technically are a disease. A disease can include any parasitic relationship, where an ectoparasite (bed bugs) feeds on a host (humans).

One of the symptoms of bed bugs disease (read:infestations) include the red, itchy bite marks, often left behind after a nighttime feeding frenzy. The bites, interestingly enough, closely resemble mosquito bites, and are about as itchy. However, only about half of all people bitten by bed bugs suffer reactions to the bites.

The itching and swelling attributed to the bites is actually your body’s reaction to the bed bugs saliva, which contains anti-coagulants and anesthetics, to ensure your blood keeps flowing, and you feel nothing while they feed.  Bed bug bite reactions vary among victims. Some experience the redness and itchiness almost immediately, some may not see bite reactions for 1 to 2 days after being bitten, and still others may show no signs of bed bug feeding at all. Most bite reactions subside a week to two weeks after appearing, and rarely, if ever leave long term evidence.

Other symptoms of bed bug infestations are psychological, and more lasting. These are the nightmares and insomnia many bed bug sufferers report. In fact, several of us here at the Bed Bug Bureau, after handling and feeding bed bugs, have sleepless nights worrying we’ve brought bed bugs home, either by nearly-invisible, hitchhiking nymphs or the extremely sticky, microscopic bed bug eggs.

Some severe infestations have caused people to have delusional parasitosis, or imagining bugs are crawling on your body, even though there is nothing physically on you. It can be very stressful condition, and disruptive to your everyday way of life. Imagine trying to be in a professional setting or having dinner at a nice restaurant, then it hits you, bed bugs are crawling all over your body, in your hair and ears, and even between your toes. To make matters worse, you’re the only one who can feel them, or even see them. Talk about horrifying! Thankfully, this  only happens in extreme cases, but it’s still scary to think about.

While bed bugs are not disease carriers in the traditional sense, they can still inflict just as much pain and annoyance as other blood-sucking insects, mosquitos. Unfortuantely, there is no bed bug repellant you can spray on you, to keep bed bugs from attacking you in the night. But fortunately, by being proactive you can minimize your exposure to bed bugs, and hopefully never have to deal with these parasites, and the symptoms caused by their bites.

Check out the Bed Bug Bureau™ for more tips and advice that can help you destroy, and even avoid bed bugs from attacking you!

-Agent P

Unfortunately, Bed Bug responsibility is not a clear cut matter. With the constant barrage of Bed Bug related lawsuits and the easability at which people can shout out at each other via the Internet, is it any wonder that this is happening. Just look at this Chicago Fox Bed Bug News Story.As you can see the landlord and the tenants are not seeing eye to eye on hardly anything Bed Bug related. The news story tells how the landlord urges the tenants to throw out their infested  mattresses and other furniture. Well, the next day, other tenants go and grab infested furniture and put it in their homes. Thus, infecting their homes with terrible, parasitic Bed Bugs! So, who is to blame in a situation like this?

Well the answer………………………………………WHO CARES! That’s right the proper answer is “who cares”. This will always be the case because wasting time pointing the finger is not going to solve this problem. In fact, it is wasted energy. Do you think the Bed Bugs eating those apartments in Chicago care? Absolutely not. A much better solution is for the tenants and landlords is to be proactive and to work together to solve this problem. The only approach to the Bed Bug epidemic is through proper education, and teamwork among all involved parties.

Agent Cooper

Bed bugs (cimex lectulariuis) are small sneaky parasites that feed on human blood. They are excellent parasites because they hide so well during daylight hour or anytime victims are active. Once bed bug sense that activity is reduced and the victim may be asleep, they come out from hiding to feed.

Superior Engineering:
Bed Bugs are highly evolved and specialized to the task of survival. Since blood is their only food, they have developed specialized adaptations to improve their odds for successful feeding and reproduction. They can sense the exhaled breath of a sleeping victim. They can maneuver around heavy dangerous limbs to position themselves to feed. They show the ability to interpret pheromone release and track it directly to a blood source. They are surprisingly agile — especially while looking for blood.

Bed Bug Design Specs:
Think small, fast, and very flat when on the prowl for blood. A freshly fed bed bug is rather clumsy and slow, but a hungry one is lean and mean. Their profile is so low in fact, that they have earned the nickname, ‘Mahogany Flats’.

Beg Bugs can squeeze into nearly any crevice. Tiny cracks in plaster or even the narrow seam of electrical outlet plates are no barrier to these hungry little parasites. They can crawl freely on nearly any surface; can navigate while inverted, and have been observed falling up to ten feet without being harmed.

Amazing fact:
Most people assume you can feel bed bugs biting and crawling on you and often ask, ‘Why doesn’t the victim just wake up?’

Normally you can feel an adult bed bug crawling on you, IF you are awake and paying attention. Most people don’t feel the sensation on their bare skin, but rather they only feel the hairs on their skin being disturbed. This little tickling is the only tactile evidence on the bed bug making its way across your body.

An even more amazing advantage for the bed bugs is their sneaky way of positioning to feed. Most people are shocked to learn that it is very rare for a bed bug to actually crawl on the victim. Bed bugs commonly feed by simply latching onto the victim with only their feeding gear. They never even touch the victim!

Bed bugs have specialized chemicals they inject into the victim that block coagulation and prevent pain. This, combined with their stealthy behavior and feeding habits make them the Parasite of the future.

Learn more about how to combat these top level parasites at www.bedbugbureau.com

Q-Based Healthcare is the maker of a full range of parasite treatment solutions. Please visit www.deadbedbugs.com to learn the facts and get help with your bed bug infestation.

Dwayne Coots

7-09-2008
c.2008 Q-Based Healthcare, Inc.