Recently, I had a patient who had been bitten by bedbugs, and yes, he had really seen them in his bed. Since these bites had occurred several weeks earlier, and had still not gone away, he came in to make sure that there was nothing further going on.

Bedbug bites do last up to 5 weeks and can continue to cause itchiness. An antihistamine such as Benadryl works fine in helping to alleviate the itch but because it’s an older antihistamine, it does cause drowsiness. Also a topical anti-itch cream can be effective.

Interestingly, there is a resurgence of bedbugs worldwide. In a recent professional journal I received, an article on bedbugs appeared that discussed the results of a review done by Jerome Goddard, PhD and Richard deShazo, MD of the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at Mississippi State University in Starkville.

The authors reviewed 53 articles published over 28 years, and concluded that there was little evidence that bedbugs transmitted 40 or so diseases that had been previously associated with bedbugs. There was some concern that Hepatitis B could be transmitted but the investigators determined that the virus does not seem to replicate in bedbugs and indeed did not result in lower hepatitis B rates in one region of Africa that had eliminated bedbugs.

I reassured my patient who had already done all the right things since discovering his bedbug plight: he had his place exterminated, and had thoroughly washed in hot water all his linens and clothing. All that was left to give him was reassurance….

For more information on bedbugs, the Harvard School of Public Health has some good information.