THAT'S THE WHY:"Night night, sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite" – it's a rhyme to entertain kids as you tuck them in, but in recent years the joke is wearing thin, because the insects are apparently experiencing a revival.
It's not as if bedbugs are anything new – they are mentioned in writings of ancient Greece – but the use of pesticides in the 1950s meant that for a while in certain parts of the world at least, humans could sleep at night with less likelihood of Cimex lectulariusburrowing into their skin for a feed of blood.
But in recent years the critters – which don’t generally carry disease but leave itchy welts on the skin – have been on the rise.
The 2010 Comprehensive Global Bed Bug Study, carried out by the US National Pest Management Association and the University of Kentucky, found that 95 per cent of pest control companies in the US had dealt with a bedbug infestation in the last year, up from 25 per cent in 2000.
Pest companies report themselves hopping after bedbugs in other parts of the world too, including Europe, the Middle East/Africa and South America.
So why are these insects staging a bigger comeback than Take That? "Experts are not certain of the cause for the bedbug resurgence," wrote John Manuel in Environmental Health Perspectiveslast month.
“The increased movement of people domestically and internationally is thought to be one factor. Another is the resistance bedbugs have developed to pesticides.”
The study also suggested a lack of societal awareness and people not taking precautions – such as inspecting the bed for bugs – as contributing factors.
Don’t know about you, but I’m starting to itch just thinking about it.
