Bedbugs have become a problem to exterminators in recent years because they do not respond to normal insecticides, and travelers may easily infest their own homes if they return home carrying an offending insect in their luggage or clothing. Bedbugs take four days to over two weeks to hatch, so infestation may be unwitting and unbeknown to the host who may notice mysterious and itchy red patches on their skin.
Problems
Bedbugs in the United States have developed a resistance to pesticides, and they have been known to live over a year without food, which makes them hearty survivors. Their high fertility rate is also a problem for those with infected households as well. They may lay over 900 eggs in a course of a lifetime, in three separate batches. Eggs generally hatch after a week, supplying your mattress with an exponential number of generations in a short time. Because they inject anesthetic when they bite, the afflicted may not notice that he or she has a bedbug infestation for some time.
How it looks to the eye
Bedbugs have an elongated round shape, and although they are tiny as eggs at about a tenth of a centimeter, adults can reach 1/4 of an inch in length, and, are therefore visible to the naked eye. Bed bugs are generally flat in shape and they do not have wings. They may range in color from a light color after shedding its skin to a browner color as they mature. After sucking blood, the meal may appear as a darker color within the body of the bug.
Potential
Bedbugs may cause a mild to severe reaction in the skin. Additionally, a person's previous exposure to bedbugs is able to worsen allergy to insect bites over time. Redness on the skin may turn into red blisters on the extremities. These elevated red patches may enlarge and worsen as a person scratches, as the bitten portion may develop a scab or crust from irritation, and the spittle from the bite of the bedbug causes further redness and swelling.
Effects
Blisters may also form as an allergic reaction to the bites. These blisters or red patches may bleed and/or become infected. A particularly severe reaction to the bedbug bite, called papular urticaria, may be caused by blood antibody reaction with the proteins contained in the bite. This is a condition where itchy red spots occur on the skin, possibly even in areas that have already healed. These spots may also become blisters and may also exude a fluid when scratched.
Warning
More severe reactions may occur as well, such as asthma, and anaphylactic shock may occur with exposure to bedbugs. If you are aware of an infestation, please see your doctor so that you may avoid these severe reactions. Skin testing can determine if you have IgE antibody reaction to bedbugs. This will indicate whether or not you may develop a severe reaction to bedbug bites, so that you may take appropriate precautions.
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