What's Going Around: Bedbugs

Their natural predator is cockroaches.

Remember the old saying "sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite?" Well, they're biting.

In fact, it hit the news this week that Ohio wants the federal government to allow an industrial insecticide for use in homes. Bedbugs are what's going around.

Dermatologist Dr. Harvey Handler says bedbugs have been a very serious problem the past year or so. He says they don't carry any diseases, but they bite us, and cause itching and they're really hard to spot. "Bedbugs are only about four millimeters, maybe a quarter inch long, so they're pretty small and they're almost transparent, until they've eaten-- which means you."

He says they bite, you move a little, they bite again. It sets up a line of bug bites on your skin. "If you see three bites in a row. It's called breakfast, lunch, dinner, and that's how they'll bite."

He says in Toledo it's tough to diagnose bed bugs, because people itch in the winter as the dry air leads to all that dry skin. "Unless you actually see the lesion in dermatology, you really have to see the lesion. Symptoms don't mean a whole lot. You have to see something."

And the best treatment? "Most of the time some hydrocortisone lotions over the counter -- most of the time."

Coincidentally, the Area Office on Aging held a seminar on bedbugs today. Health officials trained people how to get rid of bedbugs and how to prevent the spread of them.

Dr. Handler says to get rid of them: throw away your mattress and keep up with good cleaning practices.

Here's something interesting: Dr. Handler says bedbugs' number one enemy is cockroaches. He says they eat bedbugs and it may be their one redeeming quality.

As for what else is going around, doctors continue to see flu-like symptoms and run-of-the-mill colds and viruses.

Get more Health »

• Comment Now
• Email
• Print
• Report a typo
•