How Dangerous Are Bed Bugs In The Bay Area? 

There is something not quite right about having blood-eating insects living in your home and feeding on you while you sleep. This is why bed bugs make many people very uncomfortable. If you were to find out that bed bugs were found at your kids' school, how would you react? How about at your place of work? What if another parent told you that bed bugs were found in your child's daycare? These hit close to home. But it can hit even closer. How about learning that your next-door neighbor has bed bugs? Yikes! This can cause you to be nervous, or even fearful. We're hoping to alleviate some of that fear today by giving you the facts about how dangerous bed bugs in The Bay Area really are.

Bites

You know that bed bugs bite. This is true. But, unlike spiders and other venomous pests, bed bugs don't have venom. The bites they inflict won't expose you to a venom that could cause you to have an allergic reaction and send you to the hospital. You can take some comfort in this. You can also take comfort in the fact that the bites caused by bed bugs come with very little pain. In fact, you probably won't even feel it when you're bitten by a bed bug. That's why they can bite you while you're sleeping and not wake you up. A bed bug will inject an anticoagulant into the bite wound to thin your blood. This makes the extraction of your blood painless. But you can have an allergic reaction to that anticoagulant. This reaction is minor, and will only lead to a raised bump and a rash around the wound.

Diseases

Bed bugs are blood-eating pests, like mosquitoes and ticks. But, unlike mosquitoes and ticks, which are able to spread deadly or health-debilitating diseases, there is currently no evidence that bed bugs will spread disease to you. One of the reasons bed bugs may not spread diseases to you is because they don't contract diseases. Bed bugs have a penchant for feeding only on humans. They don't feed on animals in your yard and then bite you, like a mosquito will. They don't feed on rodents and then bite you, like a tick will. Wild animals are where mosquitoes and ticks contract disease-causing organisms. Do you remember when Zika hit? Do you remember the concern about the virus finding a local reservoir like West Nile has found? When a virus gets into a local population of animals, it turns from an outbreak into a sustained threat. Bed bugs tend to stick to humans. So, unless bed bugs are exposed to a human with an illness it is able to spread, you need not be worried.

Bacteria

One of the most common ways pests make us sick is by exposing us to bacteria, parasitic worms, and other microorganisms they pick up in dumpsters, trash bins, sewers, dead animal carcasses, drains, and more. Cockroaches, ants, flies, and a long list of other pests make us sick because they are drawn to bacteria. Bed bugs are not. You won't find bed bugs in your trash, in your drains, or getting into your cat's box to feed on dropping left there. They have no reason to be in these places. Therefore, they don't pick up the harmful organisms that can be found in these places.

Minor Danger

Is there anything to be worried about with bed bugs? Well, they're not completely harmless.

Bites: Bed bug bites can become swollen. These bites are also itchy. If you scratch at them, you could open the wounds and this could lead to an infection. But this isn't too serious. You can apply an ointment to get control of an infection.

Sleeplessness: If you have a fear of bed bugs, it can cause you to lose sleep. If you lose enough sleep, it can lead to symptoms of sleep deprivation, such as fatigue, depression, forgetfulness, and an inability to pay attention. These, and other symptoms, could put you at risk.

Anemia: Ongoing loss of blood can lead to a condition called anemia. This can present a risk to your health. But you're likely to deal with these bugs long before you get sick with anemia.

Bed Bug Control In The Bay Area

Remember that the pest control experts here at Bay Pest are always standing by to help you get control of bed bugs. While the danger is low, it doesn't mean you want these tormenting pests in your home. Get rid of bed bugs by reaching out to us today.