Do Bedbugs Spread MRSA?
Drug-Resistant Bacteria Cultured From Bedbugs
Web MD, today
May 11, 2011 -- Bedbugs removed from people seeking care at a Vancouver hospital were carrying drug-resistant MRSA or VRE bacteria, Canadian doctors report.
The patients were residents of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, an area with high rates of homelessness, HIV/AIDS, and injection drug use.
Because such patients are often infested with bedbugs -- and often show up at the hospital with community-acquired MRSA and VRE skin and soft tissue infections -- Marc G. Romney, MD, wondered whether the bugs might be carrying these drug-resistant germs.
This story is of interest to me, as the most common thing misdiagnosed as recluse bites is MRSA. Bed bugs, being blood suckers (true bugs), are much more likely to be biting people than are spiders, who gain no benefit from doing so.