Ep.21 Do bedbugs transmit diseases?

Surely you’re curious or at least amused by the question we’re answering today in the series “Myth or Fact”: Do bedbugs transmit diseases? It’s an interesting piece of information that we found on the internet, and if you want to know the answer, we invite you to follow Mr. Alexandru Vladimirescu, PhD in biology and head of the medical entomology laboratory at the Cantacuzino Institute.

What are you curious about? Write us in the comments and we’ll ask the specialist for you!

Interview transcript

Today we are debating with our specialist the myths that you have shared with us on our INFO DDD Facebook page. One of them goes like this: although bedbugs carry diseases, they do not transmit these diseases to humans. Mr. Vladimirescu, is this a myth or a reality?

Yes, it is a reality, fortunately. Studies have been carried out on 28 human pathogens that were inoculated into these hemiptera, cimex lectularius, and it was found that they do not transmit these pathogens to humans. But they certainly can cause stress because they are hematophagous, that is they feed on blood, both males and females and intermediate stages, so they basically create stress.