[7] Their bites can result in a number of health impacts, including skin rashes, psychological effects, and allergic symptoms.

[5] Bed bug bites may lead to skin changes ranging from small areas of redness to prominent blisters.

[2] These treatments may include heating the room to 50 °C (122 °F) for more than 90 minutes, frequent vacuuming, washing clothing at high temperatures, and the use of various pesticides.

[10] Despite being nearly eradicated in developed countries after World War II, infestations have increased since the 1990s and bed bugs are now relatively common in all regions of the globe.

There is no evidence that bed bugs transmit infectious diseases[5][7] even though they appear physically capable of carrying pathogens and this possibility has been investigated.

[3][5] The most common skin findings associated with bed bug bites are itching, flat and bumpy, reddish lesions.

[8] Individual responses to bites vary, ranging from no visible effect (in about 20–70%),[3][5] to small flat (macular) spots, to the formation of prominent blisters (wheals and bullae) along with intense itching that may last several days.

[17] Treatment of bed bug bites requires keeping the person from being repeatedly bitten, and possible symptomatic use of antihistamines and corticosteroids (either topically or systemically).

[3][4] It is possible that exposure to bed bugs may trigger an asthma attack via the effects of airborne allergens, although evidence of this association is limited.

[4][22][23][24] There is strong evidence that bed bugs can respond and orient towards human odors, independently of all other host cues.

These places may include luggage, vehicle interiors, furniture, bedside clutter—even inside electrical sockets or laptop computers.

[37] Additional preventative measures include sealing cracks and crevices (where bed bugs often hide), inspecting furniture, and decontaminating clothes and luggage upon returning home.

He advised people never to sit down on public transport; check office chairs, plane seats, and hotel mattresses; and monitor and vacuum home beds once a month.

[8] Other methods include removing textile materials from an area and washing them in hot water (at least 60 degrees Celsius) or freezing them at −20 °C (−4 °F).

The study recommended maintaining temperatures of above 48 °C (118 °F) for more than 20 min to effectively kill all life stages of bed bugs, and because in practice treatment times of 6 to 8 hours are used to account for cracks and indoor clutter.

[41] Boric acid, sometimes applied as a safe indoor insecticide against pests such as cockroaches and termites, is not effective against bed bugs[42] because they do not groom.

[44] Before the 1950s about 30% of houses in the United States had bedbugs;[2] this percentage has fallen, which is believed to be partly due to the use of DDT to kill cockroaches.

[3][4][44] This is thought to be due to greater foreign travel; increased immigration from the developing world to the developed world; more frequent exchange of second-hand furnishings among homes; a greater focus on control of other pests, resulting in neglect of bed bug countermeasures; and the banning of effective pesticides coupled with increased resistance to those pesticides still permitted.

Pliny's Natural History, first published circa AD 77 in Rome, claimed bed bugs had medicinal value in treating ailments such as snake bites and ear infections.

[66][67] Traditional methods of repelling or killing bed bugs include the use of plants, fungi, and insects (or their extracts), such as black pepper;[68] black cohosh (Actaea racemosa); Pseudarthria hookeri; Laggera alata (Chinese yángmáo cǎo | 羊毛草);[21] Eucalyptus saligna oil;[69][70] henna (Lawsonia inermis or camphire);[71] "infused oil of Melolontha vulgaris" (presumably cockchafer); fly agaric (Amanita muscaria); tobacco; "heated oil of Terebinthina" (i.e. true turpentine); wild mint (Mentha arvensis); narrow-leaved pepperwort (Lepidium ruderale); Myrica spp.

); "herb and seeds of Cannabis"; "opulus" berries (possibly maple or European cranberrybush); masked hunter bugs (Reduvius personatus), "and many others".

[73] Dusts have been used to ward off insects from grain storage for centuries, including plant ash, lime, dolomite, certain types of soil, and diatomaceous earth or Kieselguhr.

Scattering leaves of plants with microscopic hooked hairs around a bed at night, then sweeping them up in the morning and burning them, was a technique reportedly used in Southern Rhodesia and in the Balkans.

[80] Initially, the problem was solved by fumigation, using Zyklon Discoids that released hydrogen cyanide gas, a rather dangerous procedure.

[79] In 2010, bed bug infestations were reported in New York houses, retail stores, cinemas, offices and schools, especially in Brooklyn and Queens.

[84] In early 2023, Orkin reported that Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Los Angeles were the top five cities in the United States with most bed bug infestations.

[85] In France, these insects re-emerged, despite having disappeared from daily life in the 1950s, due to nomadic lifestyles, consumption of second-hand purchases, and bugs' resistance to insecticides,[86] in addition to increased traveling and tourism following the COVID-19 lockdowns.

[87] Between 2017 and 2022, 11% of French households were infested by bed bugs, according to a report from the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES).

[86] In the middle of 2023, reports emerged of a bed bug infestation spread in the capital city of Paris, when it was first seen in cinemas, then it expanded to homes, trains, schools and even hospitals.

[93][94][95] Many of New York City's Upper East Side homeowners have been afflicted, but they tend to remain publicly silent in order not to ruin their property values and be seen as suffering a blight typically associated with "lower social class.