Bedbug, Bedbug, Who's Got the Bedbug? - David Loftus

When I was a child, my parents tucked me into bed every night with a little rhyming exchange that they must have taught me but was typically started by me:

-- Good night.

-- Sleep tight.

-- Don’t let the bedbugs bite.

-- I’ll try not to.

I don’t remember wondering what bedbugs were or what they might do to me, any more than I suspect many of us considered the implications of “Now I lay me down to sleep…” or “I pledge allegiance to the flag….” It was just another comforting daily ritual.

So it’s a bit startling to be reminded of that nightly exchange from my early years -- and to see variations of it quoted in one story after another -- in the news. Bedbugs are a big deal this year!

The tiny parasitic insects known as Cimex lectularius, shown in the photo doing its thing, like to to live in beds and suck human blood. Others varieties of Cimex prefer bats or poultry, and other warm-blooded animals. C. lectularius often live in beds and can feed without disturbing their hosts. They’re brown and about the size and shape of an apple seed. They’re not a big enough health threat that the government is apt to throw huge amounts of money at them, but there is a problem from skin rashes and allergic effects that make it hard for people to sleep. (Plus the huge psychological problem of knowing your safest, most comfy haven has been invaded by wee beasties!)

With the help of DDT, these pesky critters had pretty much been eradicated from the U.S. during the 1940s, but they’ve experienced a huge resurgence since 1995, even in major metropolitan areas. Cleanliness and caretaking won’t keep them out of your home, the experts say; you can pick them up anywhere from hotels to buses. Recent surprising locations that reported infestations were the Sheraton Manhattan in Times Square, Nike’s flagship store on East 57th in Manhattan (which had to close down), the Grand Hyatt in San Francisco, and the Hilton Palmer House in Chicago. In my neighborhood, they’ve been reported in apartment building and on the Portland State University campus just a block or two away.

This revolting development is another prompting to become more aware of how interdependent we all are, individuals and nations, whether we like it or not; and for each of us to be more conscious of the people and surfaces we come into contact with every day. Recent new Web sites such as bed-bug.org, bedbugsguide.com, bedbugger.com, and bedbugregistry.com keep track of the spread of the little monsters and offer tips on how to avoid and fight them. In today’s news, USA Today reports a big turnout for a Bedbug University North American Summit in Chicago.

This problem highlights how precarious our place is at the “top” of the critter chain. Any time, a tiny challenger could make serious inroads into our complacent civilization. AIDS took a big hunk out of our confidence starting 30 years ago. Another disease that was nearly eliminated, tuberculosis, has made a serious comeback with the help of easy flights to and from the less-developed world.

I’ve wondered whether the common cold might someday develop enough resistance to our nostrums that it could live in balance in our systems permanently -- an unfriendly but not fatal symbiote -- and we’d all trudge through each day with a permanent, ongoing case of the sniffles and cough.