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just saw an article claiming bugs transmit hepatitis.
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mangycur
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Joined: Sep '07
Posts: 275
Posted 3 months ago
Wed Aug 12 2009 20:41:44
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hi, I am an oldtimer except I haven't logged on in a million years because I've been lucky enough to be bed bug free for a while. So hello newbites and oldtimers and everyone in between.
I'm logging on today because I haven't been keeping up on bed bug news and I happened to see this thing on AOL about household health hazards. i think this is a fluff article with some bad info in it, but since I haven't been keeping up, I can't be sure. Is there new evidence in the past year since I've logged on finding that bed bugs spread disease? Yes i did look at the FAQs before coming here and didn't see anything
http://www.aolhealth.com/healthy-living/household-dangers?icid=main|hp-laptop|dl3|link2|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aolhealth.com%2Fhealthy-living%2Fhousehold-dangers
I hope you are all well even while fighting the good fight
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MyWorstFear
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Joined: Sep '08
Posts: 266
Posted 3 months ago
Wed Aug 12 2009 22:41:39
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Hi! Glad to see you are bed bug free (success stories make me happy!). Maybe some of the experts will comment on this, although IIRC, no one has any proof that bed bugs transmit diseases IF you don't count mental health!
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Hi MangyCur
Glad to hear that you are doing well.
Here is the text at issue from AOL / Glamour
Bedbugs, tiny bloodthirsty insects, are hosts to organisms that cause hepatitis B and Chagas disease, say health experts. But the real problem seems to be the infections and allergic reactions that can sometimes result from bedbug bites.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, bedbugs are on the rise and becoming an increasing health problem.Technically, the issue is the use of the term host... Hepatitis B and Chagas have been detected in bed bugs, but the current evidence is that bed bugs are not a competent vector of any virus.
The second statement about infections and allergic reactions is accurate according to the WHO.
The statement is correct, but rather misleading.
The evidence is old and scant in some cases, but the current consensus is that bed bugs are not a significant factor in the transmission of disease to humans.
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cantstandbedbugs
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Joined: May '09
Posts: 80
Posted 3 months ago
Thu Aug 13 2009 21:17:36
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OMG for a minute there I thought the title of this thread said Herpes (instead of hepatitis) my heart damn near stopped.
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cantstandbedbugs
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Joined: May '09
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Posted 3 months ago
Thu Aug 13 2009 21:19:19
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Not that getting hepatitis would be any better.
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stricken
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Joined: Jun '09
Posts: 75
Posted 3 months ago
Thu Aug 13 2009 21:51:56
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A question for the experts: Could part of the reason bb's don't transmit disease be because they are only biting one person, unlike other disease-transmitting organisms/insects that bit many people? Just wondering.
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mangycur
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Joined: Sep '07
Posts: 275
Posted 3 months ago
Fri Aug 14 2009 9:07:58
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Thanks, Doug. On the one hand, i feel very sheepish to have been duped by their language, because as you clearly point out, they didn't actually say the bugs spread those diseases. However the name of the article is "Is Your Home Killing You" and the other items sited were salmonilla and MRSA. It's a stupid article and I got alarmed, silly me.
Stricken, there are threads on this site explaining why BBs can't give us diseases, if you do a search. In a nutshell, if I remember correctly, the mosquito's suckers are such that they allow a backwash of blood. So they suck in your blood and it commingles with tainted blood inside them, and somehow some of it can flow back down into you before they're done eating. Whereas bed bugs have different sucker appendages that don't cause the backwash. That's my recollection anyway.
Cantstand, that would be mortifying if BBs spread herpes! LOL
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your host
Joined: Mar '07
Posts: 5,547
Posted 3 months ago
Fri Aug 14 2009 14:45:43
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It's pretty misleading, I agree. AOL should be more responsible.
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