Do only dirty people get cockroaches and bedbugs? The hygienist dispelled the myths

Vampire bugs and traveler cockroaches: what kind of uninvited guests can come into our apartments and how to get them out, says a hygienist. Red-haired "stasiks"

  Cockroaches are also travelers. They migrate from apartment to apartment in search of food, and they move quite quickly on almost any surface. They will always find a loophole to their neighbors: ventilation shafts, pipe openings, sockets; in the summer they can crawl along external walls, through windows, balconies.

- There is a stereotype that cockroaches only appear in apartments where the taps are leaking, where they don’t clean and rarely wash the dishes. But in fact, even clean people can get them. Red "stasiks", as they are popularly called, get into your home in different ways: if there is a store on the ground floor of your house, they can get to you through the ventilation, and for those who bought used items and equipment - a microwave, toaster or a washing machine, get it with them. In general, you can bring a cockroach with you from anywhere in a bag or package. Although, of course, if you don’t put away the dishes immediately after eating, don’t wipe up puddles in the kitchen and bathroom, or have a leaking faucet, then theseinsects are much more likely to appear in your apartment. To develop, they first of all need water and only then food. The ideal place for them is where water is not removed and food waste accumulates, notes Lyudmila Kolyachko, a hygienist (HEAD) of the department of municipal hygiene of the State Institution Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology of the Leninsky District of MINSK.

To avoid the appearance of such uninvited guests, she recommends cleaning the drains, caulking cracks and holes, and repairing plumbing leaks in a timely manner. Don’t forget to install special protective devices on the openings in the walls: they are sold in stores under the name “ventilation mesh.”

- It is also important to ventilate your home frequently: cold and dry air is uncomfortable for cockroaches. And if your rules are not to leave crumbs on the table, dirty dishes in the sink, or a bag of garbage in the trash can, then harmful insects will have nothing to eat, says the hygienist.You can understand that there are already cockroaches in the house by several signs: firstly, they leave feces and dry skins, and secondly, they provoke the appearance of a very specific smell - oily, musty.

Lyudmila Kolyachko reminds us that the Prussians can be destroyed ourselves - in stores there is a large selection of suitable aerosols, trap tablets, and various types of poisons that dissolve in water. But in particularly advanced cases, it is better to seek help from a specialist - an exterminator. He will treat the apartment with more powerful preparations - insecticides. The price for a standard “kopeck piece” from state exterminators is up to 60 rubles. But before the specialist arrives, you will have to work hard: do a general cleaning, take out the trash and food, turn off the electricity, remove shelves and paintings from the walls, turn over beds, chairs, armchairs, sofas and cover them.

“A competent specialist will also ask the owners to insulate the apartment and eliminate water leaks,” the hygienist clarifies. - At the same time, you need to understand that treatment does not guarantee complete disposal of cockroaches. Sometimes it is necessary to repeat it. After all, exterminators select medications based on their experience, so if one insecticide does not work, they will try another.

Residents will be able to return to the apartment no earlier than in 6 hours. And immediately they will have to do general cleaning again: wash the floors, tables, chairs, cabinet doors... A small bug, but a biter Microscopic bed bugs are vampires, they feed on human blood. These insects are cleverly designed: when they bite, they insert two proboscis under the skin, through one of which a substance similar to anesthesia enters the victim’s body . If a person’s pain threshold is reduced, he may not feel the bite at all, and besides, these bloodsuckers go out hunting at night, when people are sleeping. - Hungry bed bugs are very mobile and practically invulnerable. Only after being saturated with blood does this insect become round and less mobile. Bedbugs living in the house are especially active at night: thanks to their light weight and tenacious legs, they easily crawl along the walls and ceiling. During the day they hide in crevices, bedding, and electronics. Bedbugs accumulate closer to the food source in safe places where they are difficult to find and see. Visually, places of their accumulation are detected by dark spots of excrement, eggs and skin. If you turn on the light at night, adult individuals can be seen on light-colored bedding,” says Lyudmila Kolyachko.

 

 

Unlike cockroaches, bed bugs do not need unsanitary conditions. They can live in a clean room if there is a person there. By the way, these insects detect its presence unmistakably. Bedbugs have a very developed sense of smell: if clothes are not washed, they climb into them, smell a person and wait in the wings. They conducted the following experiment: they put two T-shirts in a box with bedbugs - a used one and a new one, and the bedbugs unmistakably crawled into the one with the smell of a person, but neglected the new one.

- Most often, these insects crawl from neighbors through ventilation shafts. But there are other ways to move in: with new furniture or clothes bought second-hand, in suitcases and bags from travel, after spending the night in hotels or rented accommodation where bedbugs are found. Moreover, if you accidentally bring home at least a couple of insects, after a few weeks there will be much more of them: the female lays up to five eggs per day. When there are quite a lot of insects, a specific smell appears in the apartment. It feels unpleasant, with a hint of ALCOHOL, cilantro, almond bitterness,” says the hygienist.

It is possible to get rid of bed bugs only with an integrated approach. After all, they can live not only in the bed, so you need to check baseboards, cracks, door frames, and peeling wallpaper. Carefully inspect the mattress, clothing and bedding.

- When you find a bedbug habitat, treat it, as well as the nearest locations where they can move, with insecticides in the form of a spray, powder or solution. After this, keep the doors and windows in the room closed for as long as indicated on the product packaging. Next, ventilate the room for at least an hour. At this time, treat all surfaces with a solution of soda and soap, and wash clothes and all textiles. For bed linen, select a mode with a water temperature of 90C and a washing time of at least 30 minutes. The fact is that bedbugs are very sensitive to both very low and very high temperatures. If you have a dryer, great, it will be even more effective,” assures Lyudmila Kolyachko.

| Elena IVASHKO, newspaper "7 days". Photos from open Internet sources.

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