Staying Healthy
Bedbug invasion?
These tiny pests have seemingly resurged. Here's what you can do to keep them out of your home.
- Reviewed by Toni Golen, MD, Editor in Chief, Harvard Women's Health Watch; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing; Contributor
The hand-wringing in Paris last fall over tiny invaders — bedbugs — was palpable continents away. Viral social media posts drove residents of the French capital into high alert, searching for bedbugs hiding in hotel bedding and scooting across theater seats. Within days, reports surfaced that the critters were also spotted on the London Underground, hundreds of miles away.
While the evidence was mostly anecdotal, a Harvard expert says bedbugs have resurged here and abroad over the past few decades due to several factors — and it's always the right time to stay alert to ways you may encounter them and unwittingly bring them home.
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About the Author
Maureen Salamon, Executive Editor, Harvard Women's Health Watch
About the Reviewer
Toni Golen, MD, Editor in Chief, Harvard Women's Health Watch; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing; Contributor
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