In September 2011, the CDC released a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report of interest to anyone with bed bugs, or that fears bed bugs:Portions of this post originally appeared at the Old Bug Blog, October 2011; updated with new material Jan 2014.Acute Illnesses Associated With Insecticides Used to Control Bed Bugs. September 23, 2011. 60(37);1269-1274Since not everyone thinks reading a 10-page technical CDC report is a fun dinnertime activity, here is a summary. The CDC analyzed data from what’s called the SENSOR system -– state public health folks and poison control offices report certain categories of injuries and occupational hazards to a national database.There is a clear increasing trend of reports of “acute illnesses” related to bed bug control over time. Over 50% of the injuries happened in the 2008-2010 time period, which nicely parallels the way both cases of bed bugs and media coverage of bed bugs have increased.The good news: only 111 case reports involved pesticide injuries or poisoning while trying to control bed bugs; and there was only one fatality in the 8-year period studied. That is also the bad news. Those numbers are a major underestimate.The numbers in the CDC report don’t include people who tried “Kill it With Fire!” as pest control, with dismal results. Dousing your couch with rubbing alcohol to kill bed bugs while smoking: Bad Idea. That one left 30 people in an apartment complex homeless.
sorry I haven't been on line for awhile: internet off and on (with local brownouts) and then my laptop died.
Now my laptop is fixed (for now) and my tablet battery died. Sigh.
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