Your roommate in the nursing home might be a bedbug, according to an article on the NPR website.
Nearly 60 percent of exterminators have found bedbugs in nursing homes in the past year, according to an industry survey. That number is up from 46 percent in 2013.
Bedbug reports in other medical facilities have gone up slightly. Thirty-six percent of exterminators reported seeing them in hospitals, up from 33 percent. Infestations seen in doctors' offices rose from 26 percent to 33 percent in the past two years, the article said.
"Nursing homes would be difficult to treat for the simple reason you don't use any pesticides there," said Billy Swan, an exterminator.
"There are a lot of theories as to why they've made a comeback," said Jim Fredericks, chief entomologist for the National Pest Management Association. It could be differences in pest management practices, insecticide resistance, or just increased travel. "Bottom line is nobody knows what caused it, but bedbugs are back."
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