subject: You Didn't Think Bed Bugs Were Real? [print this page] Author: . Symonds" href="http://www.articlesbase.com/authors/r.c.-symonds/342067.htm">R.C. Symonds
Bed bugs are, of course, very real. They have been with us for a long time. In fact, they were known in the time of Aristotle. Bed bugs most likely came to America with European settlers during the 1700s. In the early 19th century, they were common pests. As many as 1/3 of residences (more in lower income areas) were infested. It was rare that a person had not had some contact with them. They largely disappeared by the 1950's though due to the use of the insecticide DDT. But they have been making a comeback since the early1970's. Experts have attribute their resurgence to several likely causes. Increase in international travel As the price of international travel has come down over the years, traveling both for business and pleasure has increased significantly. People freely move from place to place now. A person can easily go somewhere that is infested and unknowingly bring bed bugs back on their clothes or luggage and infest a place that is not infested. Banning of DDT (although this is sometimes debated) DDT was an effective insecticide. A single DDT application was active for about a year. Modern insecticides targeted at bed bugs have much shorter half-life, normally measured in days and weeks. Resistance to insecticides Some bed bugs have hardy characteristics that allow them to survive modern insecticides. As the hardy bugs survive extermination and mate, their progeny are prone to be hardy as well and resistant to extermination. This means that as time goes on, each generation that survived extermination is likely to be harder to kill than the last. Lack of awareness Many people are not even aware that bed bugs really exist. People just think they are part of that worn-out saying "don't let the bed bugs bite". This lack of awareness means that people don't take the time to learn how to protect themselves. They don't protect themselves while they travel and they don't protect their homes. This means they put their homes at risk for infestation as well as any places they might travel to or visit. Ok, they're real! What can I do about it? Preventing bed bugs is much easier than dealing with an infestation. It starts with educating yourself. Learn how to protect your home and protect yourself while traveling. There are many simple things you can do to prevent an infestation. They are easy to learn and easy to do, and are well worth the small investment of time required.About the Author:
BedBugInfo.com answers all of your bed bug questions in one place. How to identify an infestation, how to kill bed bugs and how to protect you and your family from them. Want to know more? What is a bed bug? will help you identify bed bugs and more.
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