How Bed Bug Infestation Can Impact Home and You
Bed bug infestations are terrible. They are an army of smaller creatures that have invaded your home and have made it into an unsafe place for you and your family. You need to get rid of a pest infestation immediately or else risk many adverse effects.
Being aware of the signs that might suggest an outbreak of common pests means that, should you wish to, you will be able to contact professional pest control services and tell them exactly what the problem is so that they will know what they are dealing with before they get to your property. North Carolina, like many other states, must deal with common household pests. Here are the four most common pests that you can see in your home, and what bed bug infestation means for your health.
Common House Pests You Should Worry About and How an Infestation Can Impact You: Cockroaches
Cockroaches are made of hardy stuff. While they wouldn’t be able to survive a direct hit from a nuclear weapon (as the myth goes) they, along with other arthropods would be very good at adapting to the radiation environment.
These pests are hard to squash because of their exoskeletons, which can withstand compression 300 to 900 times their body weight. Seeing a cockroach in your home is terrible. Not only do cockroaches bring with them the connotation that the house is run down and poorly taken care of, but they also pose several health risks.
The health risks they pose come from the fact that they typically live in sewers (or environments similar to drains). When they come into your home, they’re searching for food, before returning to their homes. When they make the journey, they’re bringing with them the bacteria, parasites, and diseases from their home into yours.
The problem with cockroaches is that washing your counters after you see one of them isn’t good enough. Their feces shed skin, or even decaying bodies can release airborne particles that can get into your lungs. If you’re allergic or have breathing conditions like asthma, they pose a more severe risk.
Bed Bugs
We have been telling each other to not let the bed bugs bite for decades, if not centuries. Bed bugs are small ticks that live in the wood frame of your bed, and they’re dangerous pests. Bed bugs can affect you both physically and physiologically. They’re tough to locate and very hard to completely eradicate once they’ve taken up your bed as their home.
The danger of bed bugs occurs when they bite you (hence the saying). These bites can inflame the skin, leaving it red and swollen. They are typically found clumped together, and they can even cause blisters or hives around the bite itself. Other symptoms might not show up for a few days after you’ve been bitten. These bites, however, are typically very itchy, can burn, and if you scratch, this can cause an infection. The only positive is that they won’t transfer any diseases.
Bed bugs don’t bite you every night, which is why it can take a while before you realize that bed bugs are the source of your mysterious bug bites and scratches. They can go dormant for days after eating, and once you know your bed and home are infested it can cause insomnia and other physiological traumas. People are often stressed about going to bed, leading to insomnia. The stress and insomnia combined can lead to anxiety and breakdowns in the long run.
Fleas
Fleas come in typically with your pets. Insects are terrible because they will attach themselves to your skin and drink your blood. There have been cases of anaphylaxis in some people who were gravely allergic to the flea’s bite. They can also easily be ingested, as they are so small. Once ingested, you could develop tapeworm if the flea was infected. This commonly occurs in children. Thankfully, treatment for tapeworm is straightforward and very effective in both your children and in any of your pets that have also developed tapeworm.
Fleas are also notorious for causing itching, and because they’re so small they can be very hard to eradicate from your home. That is why you need to protect all your pets from fleas. Fleas are also prevalent in North Carolina. If you believe that you have a flea infestation in your home, immediately search “pest control near me in Lewisville NC” and get rid of them as quickly as possible.
Mice
Mice can be, admittedly, adorable. The problem with mice, however, is that while they may seem harmless, they can contaminate your food. They venture out to your house to find food and will chew through boxes and plastic to get to their goal. Furthermore, when they pee, they continue to walk. This means that their urine is spread over far distances and it can, therefore, contaminate even more surface area.
Their urine can contain the disease, and it also dries fast, meaning that you might not even think that you’re putting your fresh food on top of dried urine.
Keep an eye out for signs of a mouse infestation and immediately act.
Bed Bug Infestation: Rats
Rat urine and feces are also a danger. Rats spread the bubonic plague in Europe, and today they can spread other diseases such as leptospirosis. They can be aggressive, stronger, and more challenging to deal with than mice. Seek help immediately for removing the rats from your property. You don’t want to take a chance with your health, after all.
Remember, the rats that your friend might have are not the same as the rats that infest your home. Pests can scratch or bite you, and transfer any diseases that they are carrying over to you. If they stay clear of your site, you could ingest or otherwise become infected by these diseases from their dried urine or left feces.
Pests are terrible to have in your home. They place risk on your health and that of your children. They also cause severe anxiety with their presence.
Don’t let the pests get to you – get to them, first and know-how an infestation can impact you.