Do Bed Bugs Carry Superbugs?

This is an interesting new item about Bed Bug research conducted in Vancouver …

Researchers in Canada have found bed bugs carrying antibiotic-resistant superbugs, a surprise finding because scientists had thought the pests were not capable of spreading infections.

The study was done by a team in a poor corner of Vancouver, where both bed bug infestations and strains of antibiotic resistant bacteria are increasing.

Dr. Marc Romney, a medical microbiologist at St. Paul’s Hospital/Providence Health Care in Vancouver, decided to see if the two were related. Romney and colleagues removed five of the pests from the clothes and skin of infested patients and tested them. They found bed bugs carrying two types of drug-resistant bacteria, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin-resistant enterococci.

“I was a little surprised. Historically, bed bugs have not been associated with infections” – Romney said in a telephone interview. He said scientists have tested bed bugs to see if they carry blood-borne diseases, such as hepatitis or HIV. But so far, they have not been reported to carry infection.

Infestations of the bloodsucking bugs, which can cause severe itching, have made a comeback in cities such as Paris and New York in recent years.

Romney said the strain of MRSA they found requires skin to be somewhat compromised, and he thinks the bed bugs are providing that as people scratch their bites. “Maybe the bed bug s bite is breaking down the patient’s skin,” – he said. He said that some of these pests may be carrying MRSA and going from individual to individual.

“The data are preliminary, but it suggests maybe there is an association” -Romney said.

Even though they can carry hepatitis B and HIV, maybe they can carry resistant bacteria.

“Maybe it is yet another factor that could be responsible for this large increase in resistant bacteria in inner cities in North America,” he said.
Source: Reuters, via https://reuters.com/ (Editing by Mohammad Zargham)