Free Course: Bed Bug Infestations

They creep. They bite. They hide in dark places. And no, that isn’t the tagline from the latest horror film. But for nursing home administrators across the country, these tiny troublemakers are no doubt just as terrifying.

“They” are bed bugs, and you may have heard a thing or two about them in the news recently. Chomping their way across the U.S. in big cities and small towns alike, swarms of Cimex lectularius have left experts baffled as to what triggered the sudden invasion and scrambling to contain it. Scrambling, because bed bugs tend to spread like the proverbial wildfire.

So what exactly is a Bed Bug?
Bed bugs are small, parasitic insects that favor human blood as their main source of sustenance. Members of the family Cimicidae, they are commonly referred to as “bed bugs” because of their preferred dwelling places—in beds, mattresses, sheets, and tucked away in the nooks and crannies of dark bedrooms.

Why are Nursing Homes at Risk?
Aside from the obvious stigma associated with an infestation of any kind, bed bugs can wreak havoc on nursing homes and other healthcare facilities, plaguing occupants with itchy, annoying bites and symptoms ranging from skin rashes and bacterial infections to psychological trauma and in some cases even asthma or gastrointestinal disorders.