BedBug bites

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Bed bug bites vary dramatically between individuals which is why they are not really strong indicators of the presence of bed bugs, although they are undoubtedly the most distressing side effect of an infestation. If you wait till you get bites the problem may already be more advanced than you would care to imagine. We have documented cases of literally thousands of bed bugs being present before any of the room occupants responded:

 

Adult bites are usually characterised as hard whitish welts that are extremely itchy. For the most part this is true but should not be taken out of context from the following points.

 

· Not everyone responds to the bites at the initial stages, there is a threshold effect and individual immune response effect as well as an environmental factor.

 

· Some people do not respond at the start of an infestation and it may take many bites to get a response. Some people never get a bite response. Those with sickle cell anaemia and thalassemia tend not to get bitten at all. The time from bite to response can vary by as much as 2 days and is often brought on by heat, hot showers or exercise which may aggravate bites.

 

· Individual immune responses play a factor in that some people are allergic to bites and the welt can be up to 3 inches across. We have seen one case of anaphylactic shock from bed bugs but as that is out of over 1000 people it's not a major issue although the effect can be fatal. This accounts for a massive degree of the variation between individuals.

 

· The environment can also play a massive factor. We have seen people only start to respond when exposed to a higher level of environmental pollution and the effect has been reported to be near instantaneous in the case of rapid exposure.

 

The juvenile and baby bites tend to be smaller, not whitish but raised red disks, some people would not even notice or feel them. Again they are subject to the above factors but as a rule of thumb it helps. We ask all our clients to keep accurate activity logs as we now have enough data to model some infestations and rule out repeat exposure based on the data.

 

They will not bite through materials so covering up will help avoid bites although exposed limbs and face may become an easy target. We advocate protecting limbs and face while leaving the rest exposed as hidden bites are less obvious. It is also essential not to scratch the bites.   They will fade and pass unless you scratch and damage the skin in which case secondary infection is common. Using an antiseptic or antihistamine cream will help but you should always consult a medical professional.

 

It is not really possible to identify insects by bites alone and although they made be the most obvious symptom to an infestation they are not going to change the way that the property needs to be treated.