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Terrible News: Bed Bugs With Staph Superbug Found
By
Jen Chung
Published May 11, 2011
Modified May 11, 2011
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By
Jen Chung
Published May 11, 2011
Modified May 11, 2011
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Just in time for bed bug season: According to the AP, "Canadian scientists detected drug-resistant staph bacteria in bedbugs from three hospital patients from a downtrodden Vancouver neighborhood." Uh-oh!
The study was published in a journal of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Washington Post has more:
"Even though this is a small study, it suggests that bedbugs may be playing a role in the transmission of MRSA in inner city populations where bedbug infestations are a problem," said Marc Romney, one of the study's authors. Romney is medical director of infection prevention and control at St. Paul's Hospital, and a specialist in infectious diseases.
The study does not answer many key questions. It did not determine whether the bacteria were transmitted from the patient to the bugs or the other way around. Nor did it determine whether the bacteria were on the outside of each bug or living and growing inside it, which would suggest the possibility of biological transmission, researchers said.
But even if the bugs were carrying the bacteria on their exteriors, the finding is still significant, Romney said, because bedbugs could spread the germ from person to person, especially in crowded settings such as the homeless shelters where these patients were living in downtown Vancouver.
When do we get to build that border between Canada and the U.S.? And remember, NYC bed bugs seem impervious to our puny pesticides.
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bed bug
downtrodden
mrsa
staph
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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