Do bed bugs prefer certain people?

11 November 2012

BEDBUG

A bed bug nymph (Cimex lectularius) as it was in the process of ingesting a blood meal from the arm of a “voluntary” human host

Share

Question

My name is Robert. I'm from Norwich. I have some experience back in 1970 when I was living in RAF Changi. In each room there were 8 men, all very clean and showered every day and there was always 2 or 3 of them in each room who got infested with bed bugs terribly. Strange thing that I noticed, me included is that the rest of us never got infected, just those few. Seems a question out there that some people attract them and others not?

Answer

Toby - I don't think some people attract them more. It may just be that some habit that those people have, they may have gone to the same place which had an infestation and they were bring it back from that same area, but I'm not aware of any evidence that they prefer certain people to others.

Chris - Clive.

Clive - Bed bugs do seem to be really quite choosy. Time and time again, we hear a situation typically where we've got a couple of people and they say, "My wife gets bitten and I don't" or "My husband gets bitten and I don't". we don't fully understand that, but the reality is that bed bugs do appear to be quite choosy.

Chris - Rather like mosquitoes then because there are certainly mosquito attractive people and mosquito repellent people like my wife is an absolute magnet for them, I never get touched.

Clive - There are also people who don't react to mosquito bites and those that do, and sometimes the differences are down to the sensitivity to the person, the reactivity of the person rather than to the choice of the bed bugs. So, there's more work to be done in this area.

Comments

My son had them in his room so we got pesticide person out paid £150 that didn't work he came again still didn't work now the bedbugs are in our room but it's only me getting bitten and not my husband, I'm getting really peed off with this I just don't know what to do.

I don't see bed bugs or get bitten often. But I've noticed I get a bite about every couple of months. I hunt for it and kill it when I do. I check everywhere but can't find more. Why?

Why is it that my wife is always the one being bitten and they avoid me like Muslims avoid pork??? Not that I feel left out on some shhh, but what the f? My blood isn't good enough? Lol.

I definitely believe they are, it's happened to me twice now, I will get ate up, and they won't touch my wife. No more cabins and hotels.....
Hoping a scientist will make a study, and find a antifenom!!!

It may be that I react more but they critter do seem to follow me on the bed. They don't seem to bite him as much. They also seem to prefer my 14 year old son over my 8 year old son.

Add a comment