Over the past 15 years, reports of bed bug infestations in Mississauga have been on the rise. Even though they were almost completely eradicated from Canada in the 1950’s with the use of powerful insecticides such as DDT, bed bug infestations have recently been increasing. One of the main reasons bed bug infestations have been on the rise in Canada is due to increased world travel. To make matters worse, the bed bugs of this generation are much more resilient than previous ones having evolved to have a level of resistance to most insecticides that worked in the past. Once they find a way into your home, usually by secretly latching onto your clothing, they will hide in difficult to reach places and multiply quickly. They mainly come out when you are asleep to feed on your blood and go back into hiding before you wake up, making it very difficult to spot them in action and to find out where they are hiding in your home.
Having a bed bug infestation in your home should be seen as a serious matter that needs to be dealt with right away. Due to how difficult they are to control and how quickly they can spread, if you notice any signs of a bed bug infestation contact a qualified bed bug control company that can provide guaranteed results. If the problem persists for too long without a solution in sight, they will populate in large numbers potentially causing physical and psychological harm to you and your loved ones. In this article you will gain an understanding of just how dangerous these blood sucking pests can be.
Physical Harm Caused By Bed Bugs
Bed bugs are tiny parasitic pests that feed on human blood while we sleep. As is the case with any other blood sucking insects, most people are concerned with the spread of disease if bitten. Luckily there has never been any conclusive scientific evidence linking bed bug bites to the spread of disease. In fact, bed bug bites usually don’t even cause any pain to their hosts due to a numbing agent present in their saliva that is secreted while feeding to keep you from waking up.
Although a bed bug bite doesn’t cause any discomfort while it is being received, they can cause some degree of discomfort later on. The extent of discomfort caused can vary from one person to the next. Some people have no reaction whatsoever to bed bug bites and thus can go a long time before realising that they have an infestation. On the other end of the spectrum, some people have reported having serious allergic reactions to bed bug bites causing rashes and itching. For the most part, however, a bed bug bite will leave noticeable red bite marks on your skin, similar to a mosquito bite, and cause an itchy feeling on the skin. As you can see, the physical harm imposed by bed bugs are not of major concern in most cases. The bites do look ugly and may cause some discomfort but it will not cause any sort of infection or disease. The real threat that bed bugs have on their hosts is the psychological impact that they can impose.
Psychological Damage Caused By Bed Bugs
Realising that your home has been infested with bed bugs can be a devastating moment in your life. Although they do not cause any serious physical harm to humans, the thought of having tiny bugs feeding on your blood every night while you are fast asleep can drive any regular person mad. One of the main symptoms experienced by bed bug hosts is sleep deprivation which can lead to more serious psychological problems like anxiety and depression. This was proven scientifically in a Canadian study intending to determine the psychological harm that bed bugs impose on their hosts.
In this study, Dr. Stéphane Perron examined two test groups, one living with a bed bug infestation and the other without. Both groups lived in housing complexes that were considered to have unfit living conditions according to the office of public health. Dr. Perron concluded that the residents in the complex with a bed bug infestation had a much higher chance of experiencing sleep deprivation and anxiety disorders. He claims that this is a result of the infested residents knowing that they will be bitten when they go to sleep with no way of defending themselves, making it much more difficult to sleep and focus. In another more in depth study, researchers came to the conclusion that bed bug infestations can even lead to severe psychological harm that can cause victims to have suicidal thoughts and possibly be hospitalized in a psychiatric ward. The most extreme subject in this study was a 21 year old lady with no previous record of mental or physical health issues. When she discovered her house was infested with bed bugs she quickly developed anxiety and depression, which eventually led to her being hospitalized from over dosing on pain killers in a suicide attempt.
