Can Bedbugs Become Bed Bugs?
WouterBedbugs can become bed bugs through contact with the human body. While bedbugs do not feed constantly on their hosts, lice can. These tiny parasites live on a human host for the duration of their life cycle. They feed, mate, and lay eggs on the host’s skin. Moreover, they can easily be transferred to other human hosts through physical contact.
If you suspect your child or yourself has lice, the best thing to do is to wash all bed linens in high heat to kill the eggs and larvae. Make sure to also wash children’s stuffed animals. You can also put your pillow in the freezer for a few hours to kill any eggs in the pillow.
Lice, also known as pediculosis, are parasites found on warm-blooded animals and humans. Lice spend their entire life on a warm-blooded host and only live for one or two days off their host. Fortunately, most species of lice are harmless and rarely spread disease.
Although bedbugs and lice co-occur, no direct evidence of this is available in the literature. However, a recent case study confirmed the association. The patient in this case had poor hygiene practices and socioeconomic status, which may have made her vulnerable to a lice infestation.
