April 1, 2009br /br /a href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_CpmH6pmUk9A/Sd0aflG0LkI/AAAAAAAAACQ/OqzZrTNZM3c/s1600-h/bedbugs.gif”img style=”float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 189px; height: 160px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_CpmH6pmUk9A/Sd0aflG0LkI/AAAAAAAAACQ/OqzZrTNZM3c/s200/bedbugs.gif” border=”0″ alt=”"id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322439464460758594″ //aA new report published in the emJournal of the American Medical Association/em finds that infestations of bed bugs are on the rise all over the world, and these insects are becoming more resistant to pesticides.br /br /In San Francisco, reports of bed bug infestations doubled between 2004 and 2006, according to the study. In Toronto, during a six month period, reports of bed bugs jumped 100 percent in 2002, and in Austria, the number of bed bug samples submitted to the government went up 400 percent from during 2001 to 2004 compared to 1997 to 2000, reported the study.br /br /”They’re extremely difficult to get rid of, and they’re not going away anytime soon,” said study author Jerome Goddard, an associate professor of entomology at Mississippi State University in Jackson. “They can live for a year without food, and they’re becoming resistant to many of the pesticides used to kill them.” Travel, immigration, and resistance to insecticides have contributed to a resurgence in reports of infestations.br /br /Goddard and his colleague, Dr. Richard deShazo from the University of Mississippi Medical Center, reviewed 53 studies on bed bugs published over the past 50 years. They found that only about half of the people who are bitten show signs of a bite.br /br /Bed bug bites do not appear to transmit illness, according to the report. “Evidence for disease transmission by bed bugs is lacking.” Because bed bugs feed on blood, the concern has been they might transmit illness.br /br /Pest control and eradication is challenging due to insecticide resistance, lack of effective products, and health concerns about spraying mattresses with pesticides.br /br /strongDr. Grout’s Comment:/strongbr /br /a href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_CpmH6pmUk9A/Sd0aTzlnngI/AAAAAAAAACI/eRqTCtrIOVg/s1600-h/mosquito.gif”img style=”float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 169px; height: 145px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_CpmH6pmUk9A/Sd0aTzlnngI/AAAAAAAAACI/eRqTCtrIOVg/s200/mosquito.gif” border=”0″ alt=”"id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322439262189624834″ //aMy good friend, Dr. Doris Rapp, met with the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors during the summer of 2004 to warn them of the dangers of saturating the landscape with pesticides in an attempt to control a href=”http://www.arizonaadvancedmedicine.com/articles/west_nile_virus.html”West Nile Virus/a (WNV). Bugs are incredibly adaptable and intelligent. The more we use pesticides, the more the critters resist them. Overuse of pesticides breeds hardier bugs, just as overuse of antibiotics have bred MRSA, the superbugs in hospitals.br /br /In 2008, the CDC reported 833 cases of WNV in 38 states. Maricopa County continues to spray each summer and fall in areas where mosquito counts are high. Spraying has not yet begun this season.div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4769404502414351890-8616313327416321577?l=arizonaadvancedmedicine.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div