Comments on: Public health significance of bed bugs: a new tool for action

By: Bed Bugs are a Pest of Significant Public Health Importance — New York vs Bed Bugs

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 18:17:16 +0000

[...] we’ve spent all this time saying that bed bugs in our city merit a determination of public health [...]

By: WNYC Radio has news item about Intro 873 — New York vs Bed Bugs

WNYC Radio has news item about Intro 873 — New York vs Bed Bugs — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 21:34:09 +0000

[...] bugs are decidedly the purview of public health departments, starting with, I don’t know, a WHO publication? and we’re going to put it in our nice report (yes, it’s almost done) and then [...]

By: Halifax tenants dealing with with bed bugs and unsympathetic health department : Got bed bugs? Bedbugger.com

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 05:33:07 +0000

[...] World Health Organization seems to think bed bugs are a public health concern. So much so, that as Renee of New York vs. Bed Bugs noted, WHO put a bed bug on the cover of this recent publication entitled The Public Health Significance of Urban Pests, alongside a rat and [...]

By: The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is resisting pressure to act in the city’s bed bug resurgence — New York vs Bed Bugs

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 05:46:14 +0000

[...] have discussed the public health significance of bed bugs and the rationale for a substantive role for the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene [...]

By: New York versus Bed Bugs — New York vs Bed Bugs

New York versus Bed Bugs — New York vs Bed Bugs — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 02:29:02 +0000

[...] a year when the World Health Organization has recommended that cities and communities develop plans to address bed bug infestations, and in the face of so many public health organizations elsewhere adopting active positions and [...]

By: Bed bugs, poverty and filth - Part I — New York vs Bed Bugs

Bed bugs, poverty and filth - Part I — New York vs Bed Bugs — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 01:01:27 +0000

[...] authors of the bed bug chapter of the new WHO urban pests book cautiously put it this way: Apparently, because these infestations can become an endless, cyclical [...]

By: Bed bug legislation in the U.S. House and in the Ohio House : Got bed bugs? Bedbugger.com

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 04:02:01 +0000

[...] Urban Pests. (You can download a PDF on the right.) And the WHO not just includes bed bugs — as Renee reminds us in an analysis of the WHO study over on New York vs. Bed Bugs, a bed bug is on t… with a tick and a [...]

By: nobugs

nobugs — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:09:22 +0000

Yes– I agree it needs to be framed correctly.

By: Renee

Renee — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:45:19 +0000

Eliminator – I’m keeping your message above but I deleted the other one, if you know what I mean.

Nobugs! It was pretty neat to see Ol’ Sneaky’s mug on this one. On the poverty thing, I think it’s a mistake to tie bed bugs to poverty (it’s what’s been done traditionally). I think there’s a way to address the issues (i.e., not ignore the underlying problems) without framing them incorrectly, and so avoid a repeat of some of the consequences that actually make fighting bed bugs difficult, now and in the future: the shame, the persistent idea that bed bugs happen to someone else…

By: nobugs

nobugs — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 04:03:25 +0000

Sneaky Simes snagged the cover, nice!

This is a good development, even if not completely perfect. The WHO is right to recognize the potential (and demonstrated) health problems bed bugs pose or may pose in future.

The comments about poverty do bring up complex issues.

It is true, though, that poor people and those on low incomes have a much worse time with bed bugs, on the whole, because they are more likely to lack resources to fight them once they appear, and (seem to be) more likely to live in housing where landlords don’t deal with the problems as swiftly.

In other words, you don’t get bed bugs because you’re poor or on a low income, but it can be harder to get rid of them once you do.