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Cimex lectularius, known as the common bed bug, is a widespread hematophagous human ectoparasite and urban pest that is not known to be a vector of any human infectious disease agents. However, few studies in the era of molecular biology have profiled the microorganisms harbored by field populations of bed bugs. The objective of this study was to examine the viruses present in a large sampling of common bed bugs and related bat bugs (Cimex pipistrelle). RNA sequencing was undertaken on an international sampling of > 500 field-collected bugs, and multiple workflows were used to assemble contigs and query these against reference nucleotide databases to identify viral genomes. Shuangao bed bug virus 2, an uncharacterized rhabdovirus previously discovered in Cimex hemipterus from China, was found in several bed bug pools from the USA and Europe, as well as in C. pipistrelle, suggesting that this virus is common among bed bug populations. In addition, Shuangao bed bug virus 1 was detected in a bed bug pool from China, and sequences matching Enterobacteria phage P7 were found in all bed bug pools, indicating the ubiquitous presence of phage-derived elements in the genome of the bed bug or its enterobacterial symbiont. However, viral diversity was low in bed bugs in our study, as no other viral genomes were detected with significant coverage. These results provide evidence against frequent virus infection in bed bugs. Nonetheless, our investigation had several important limitations, and additional studies should be conducted to better understand the prevalence and composition of viruses in bed bugs. Most notably, our study largely focused on insects from urban areas in industrialized nations, thus likely missing infrequent virus infections and those that could occur in rural or tropical environments or developing nations., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Introduction: Some arthropods such as cockroaches can exacerbate asthma, but it is unknown is this is true of bed bugs., Objectives: The objective of this work is to determine if bronchospastic diseases like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) would be higher for ED patients who have bed bug infestation compared with patients who do not have bed bug infestation., Methods: A case-control study was performed with 332 adult emergency department (ED) patients with bed bug infestation and 4952 without infestation. Univariable and multivariable regression analysis was performed., Results and Conclusion: Patients with bed bug infestation were not more likely to have a past history of or an ED diagnosis of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, bed bug infested patients were significantly more likely to undergo chest radiography, be admitted to the hospital, and receive albuterol in the ED (P < 0.05). Infested patients receiving albuterol in the ED were more likely to be admitted to the hospital compared with uninfested patients receiving albuterol (P < 0.001). Patients with an ED or inpatient diagnosis of asthma or COPD and bed bugs (compared with those without bed bugs) had significantly more ED visits during the study (P < 0.03). Bed bug infestations may be associated with respiratory pathology, which requires further investigation., (© 2021 The Author. The Clinical Respiratory Journal published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Introduction: Bed bugs are hematophagous insects that can be problematic in some urban emergency departments. The objective was to determine if red blood cell (RBC) and coagulation indices of bed bug-infested emergency department (ED) patients differed from those of noninfested control patients., Methods: A chart review from a single health system was performed for ED patients between February 1, 2011, and February 1, 2017. Bed bug-infested patients were matched to noninfested control patients on the basis of age, sex, and the presenting ED. Variables were analyzed with the t-test and Pearson χ 2 test and were modeled with multivariable logistic regression., Results: The study had 332 bed bug-infested patients and 4952 controls. Infested patients had lower hemoglobin (11.7 g/dL vs 12.8 g/dL), hematocrit (35.0% vs 37.9%), RBC counts (4.1 × 10 9 /L vs 4.4 × 10 9 /L), mean corpuscular volume (86.0 vs 87.5 fL/cell), and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentrations (33.2 vs 33.7 g/dL) and higher RBC distribution width-coefficient of variation (RDW-CV) (15.2% vs 14.2%) than noninfested patients (all P ≤ .003). Infested patients were more likely to be anemic (59.5% vs 36.9%) and to have severe anemia (4.4% vs 0.7%) (P < .001 for both). Blood transfusions were more common in those with bed bugs (5.1%) than those without bed bugs (2.3%) (P < .001)., Conclusion: Bed bug infestated patients in the ED are associated with anemia., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Aims: To evaluate whether bed bugs are associated with allergic reactions in patients seen in the emergency department (ED)., Methods and Results: This retrospective study included data from 9 EDs in Ohio between February 2011 and February 2017. The study comprised 332 patients with bed bug infestation matched 1:15 with 4952 control patients without bed bugs on the basis of age, sex and the presenting ED. Compared with uninfested patients, patients infested with bed bugs were more likely to have an ED or inpatient diagnosis of pruritus, hives or urticaria (odds ratio [OR], 9.12 [95% CI, 3.41-24.42]) and to be treated in the ED with an antihistamine (OR, 3.20 [95% CI, 1.87-5.50]) or albuterol (OR, 1.59 [95% CI, 1.07-2.36]) (P ≤ .02 for all). There were no significant differences in the rates of anaphylaxis and angioedema diagnosed in patients with and without bed bugs, which occurred in <1% in both groups., Conclusion: Bed bug-infested patients are more likely to be diagnosed and treated for itchy cutaneous rashes, but are not clearly associated with more severe allergic reactions., (© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Bed bugs are a significant and under-studied public health nuisance. We surveyed 706 emergency department patients and found bed bug infestations were more likely (p < 0.05) among subjects having persons 19-64 years of age in the house, living in a group home, a previous history with bed bugs, and knowing someone who currently has bed bugs. Sleeping in a hotel, recent homelessness, obtaining used clothing or furniture and using a laundromat were not associated with increased risk (p > 0.05) for infestation. Individuals with less education and income were more likely (p < 0.05) to have bed bugs and express concern about getting bed bugs. Younger persons were more likely to correctly identify a picture of a bed bug compared to those over the age of 60 years (p < 0.001).

Bed bugs are one of the most important human ectoparasites in the United States, and a growing problem in the emergency department. We evaluated 40 emergency department (ED) patients found with a bed bug. The data show that ED patients with bed bugs are statistically more likely to be male, older, more likely to be admitted to the hospital, have higher triage emergency severity index (ESI) scores, and arrive by ambulance than the general ED patient population (p<0.05). On average bed bugs were found 108min after a patient arrived to the ED, after 35% of subjects had already received a blood draw, and after 23% had already received a radiology study; putting other ED patients and staff at risk for acquiring the infestation. We found that 13% and 18% of subjects had wheezing and a papular rash, respectively on physical exam. Of those patients found with a bed bug in the ED, 42% reported having bed bugs at home and 21% reporting having a possible home infestation., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The recent resurgence of the common bed bug Cimex lectularius L. throughout western industrialized nations has been facilitated in part by the insect becoming pesticide-resistant. Novel control strategies, including xenointoxication, should be considered to combat C. lectularius. Ivermectin, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved treatment for several human parasites, and the antiparasitic drug moxidectin, currently being explored in human clinical trials, were evaluated for efficacy against C. lectularius. Results showed that C. lectularius fed on ivermectin or moxidectin blood concentrations of >25 ng/mL and had significantly higher mortality (50-100 %) than controls (0-6 %) by day 13. Bed bugs that survived a blood meal containing >2.5 ng/mL of ivermectin suffered long-term sequelae including reduced fecundity, feeding difficulty, and incomplete ecdysis. Some insects that survived a blood meal containing ≤75 ng/mL moxidectin were able to feed and reproduce.