WebMD Medical News Louise Chang, MD Dec. 6, 2011 -- For a while,
it seemed the bedbug had gone the way of the Edsel automobile
and cold water flats. Not anymore -- as we’ve learned. They’re
back with a vengeance, and experts now seem to know why. Bedbugs
may not get as much play in the media as they did in the summer
of 2010, but they are here to stay, experts warned at the annual
meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
(ASTMH) in Philadelphia. New research presented here helps
explain why they are back and a lot of it has to do with an
ability to outsmart existing treatments. We saw hide nor hair
from these vermin in the U.S. for close to 60 years, but now the
number of bedbug infestations in homes, hotel rooms, and the
like has jumped 10- to 100-fold since 1990. Bedbugs are
wingless, rust-colored insects. They are about the size of an
apple seed. They don’t spread disease, but they do bite and
munch on your blood. Their bites can trigger allergic reactions,
including welts and itchi