This Week At UMC

Dr. Richard deShazo Today Show

JACKSON, Miss. – A bed bug article Dr. Richard deShazo co-authored for The Journal of the American Medical Association landed him an interview on NBC’s Today Show.

The Today Show featured Dr. deShazo, chairman of the University of Mississippi Medical Center Department of Medicine, on April 15.

Amid a resurgence of bed bugs nationwide, deShazo and Mississippi State University Professor Jerome Goddard conducted a review of previously-published articles on the insects. They found little evidence bed bugs transmit disease, contrary to long-held beliefs.

The bad news: The bugs are tough to kill. There’s little evidence of effective treatment for their bites. And international travel is helping to spread the little beasties. Their article was published in JAMA’s April 1 issue.

The Today Show segment aired in conjunction with a bed bug conference hosted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Watch the NBC video:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/30223729#30223729

Read UMMC’s press release:

From the University of Mississippi Medical Center Division of Public Affairs

REVIEW FINDS CONTROL, TREATMENT OF BED BUGS CHALLENGING

For more information contact Jack Mazurak at (601) 984-1970 or jmazurak@pubaffairs.umsmed.edu.

JACKSON, Miss. – A review by the University of Mississippi Medical Center physician and a professor Mississippi State University of previously published articles finds little evidence for effective treatments of bites from bed bugs, control and eradication of the insects is challenging but that the bugs do not appear to transmit disease.

 

The review, by Dr. Richard deShazo, M. D., chairman of the Department of Medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, and Jerome Goddard, Ph.D., associate extension professor at Mississippi State University, is featured in the April 1 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.

Bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) have been known as a human parasite for thousands of years, but scientific studies of this insect are recent and limited. International travel, immigration, changes in pest control practices and insecticide resistance may have contributed to a recent resurgence of this blood-sucking insect in developed countries. Bed bug infestations have been reported increasingly in homes, apartments, hotel rooms, hospitals, and dormitories in the United States since 1980, according to background information in the article. Hiding places are usually within about 3 to 6 feet of suitable hosts and include seams in mattresses, crevices in box springs, backsides of headboards, spaces under baseboards or loose wallpaper. Health consequences include biting and skin and systemic reactions. The potential for bed bugs to serve as transmitters of disease and optimal methods for bed bug pest control and eradication are unclear.

Goddard and deShazo examined the evidence regarding the health and medical effects of bed bugs and control and eradication strategies. The researchers conducted a search for articles on these topics, identified 53 articles that met criteria for inclusion, and summarized the findings.

The authors report that although transmission of more than 40 human diseases has been attributed to bed bugs, there is little evidence that they are transporters of communicable disease. A variety of clinical reactions to bed bugs have been reported, including skin and rarely systemic reactions. A review of case reports indicated that the usual response to a bed bug bite appears to be no reaction with a barely visible mark at the location of the bite. The most common reactions for which medical attention is sought are lesions. These usually itch, and if not made worse by scratching, resolve within a week. Some patients experience complex skin reactions.

The authors write that the use of any treatment strategy for symptomatic bed bug bites has not been established. Treatments of common and complex skin reactions are usually symptomatic and not evidence based. Treatments that have been used with varying results include antibiotics, antihistamines, topical and oral corticosteroids and epinephrine (adrenaline).

The authors add that bed bugs are extremely difficult to eradicate. No evidence-based interventions to eradicate bed bugs or prevent bites were identified. Pesticide control of bed bugs is complicated by insecticide resistance, lack of effective products, and health concerns about spraying mattresses with pesticides.

“Bed bugs are likely to be more problematic in the future due to travel, immigration, and insecticide resistance,” the researchers write. “Development of effective repellents and public education about bed bugs are also important goals. Research is needed to elucidate the pathogenesis of clinical reactions to bed bug bites so that optimal therapy may be identified.”

 

 

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3/31/09

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The University of Mississippi Medical Center, located in Jackson, is the state’s only academic medical center. UMMC encompasses five health science schools, including medicine, nursing, health related professions, dentistry and graduate studies, as well as the site where University of Mississippi pharmacy students do their clinical training. The Medical Center’s threefold mission is to educate tomorrow’s health-care professionals, conduct innovative research to improve human health, and to provide the highest quality care available to the state’s citizens. A major goal of the Medical Center is the improvement of the health of Mississippians and the elimination of health disparities.  For more information, contact the Division of Public Affairs at 601-984-1100 or visit us on the Web at http://info.umc.edu/.

 

2009-04-17 00:00:00 3524