The appearance in the apartment of such insects as cockroaches, of course, cannot be called a pleasant phenomenon. These are one of the most common pests - insects in human dwellings and household premises. Longhorns are carriers of several dozen pathogens and spoil all the food that is in the house. The result of your fight against cockroaches will depend on how quickly you reacted and took a number of necessary measures.
What actions need to be taken if you see the Prussians in the apartment? What are the ways and means for their effective destruction? This article is devoted to these questions.
Can domestic cockroaches bite a person?
The behavior of cockroaches has its own specifics. The cockroach is able to bite a person thanks to its powerful gnawing mouth apparatus. The fixation of the skin occurs between the powerful chitinous lips and the horns of the insect's mandibles. A pair of upper jaws holds the skin, and the teeth pinch off the upper layers, with a bite, an infection occurs with a contaminated mouth apparatus and the pest's saliva. The basis of a language with a specific structure is chitin. Well-developed organs allow cockroaches to absorb and digest any food, any strength and roughness. The insect is able to bite through cardboard paper, leather items, shoes, jeans. Human skin is much softer than these things. It is not difficult for a cockroach to bite a sleeping person, especially when you consider that human skin has an odor that can attract insects. They are active at night when the lights are off.
A red-pink crust up to 5 mm in diameter forms around the cockroach bite. If characteristic signs of a bite are found, it is necessary to urgently consult a doctor in order to prevent a possible inflammatory process. If a bite is found, it is advised to treat the wound with chlorhexidine or hydrogen peroxide.
Where do cockroaches come from?
Do you have these insects in your house, apartment? Well, don't panic, follow the simple steps to get rid of them.
Don't leave food
The first step is to cover all food. Cockroaches are attracted to food, so don't keep food open, or leave crumbs, unwashed dishes, or uncooked food.
It is very important! If they haven't removed the food, they will signal to each other that your home is a treasure trove of free dining.
Remove this reason as soon as you see at least one insect (or earlier).
Keep your home clean
The next step is to remove the clutter in the house. Cockroaches love to nest in damp, dark places. If you have a big mess, chances are that insects nest in old things that haven't been touched in a long time. Their appearance is a good excuse to sell unnecessary things, make some money, get rid of all these tempting places for them.
Get rid of the pest
Do not let the parasites run, they leave pheromones, which are chemical signals for relatives. If one cockroach is allowed to live, he will tell his buddies, soon, you will have a whole lot of them in the kitchen.
When you see a cockroach, hunt down and destroy it. If you catch him earlier, then you can prevent a much bigger problem.
Be carefull
After you have killed one individual that you saw, do not hope that you now get rid of them. It is necessary to keep the apartment clean and use special traps. Like most insect pests, there are ten more cunning and less courageous others for one cockroach, which will crawl out as soon as the lights are turned off.
Is it possible?
Cockroaches not only look menacing, they are a threat to humans. Cases of attacks on humans by Prussians and other individual species of cockroaches are not uncommon. The Prussians attack a person due to a lack of food and drink. The shortage can be caused by active bullying, lack of direct access to water, an increase in the number of individuals living in the same room, as well as violation of sanitary norms and rules.
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Biting a person, cockroaches do not want to harm him, but only want to save their lives. They are driven by the instinct of self-preservation. With enough food and water, cockroaches will not bite people.
Cockroaches hunt exclusively at night. They can only bite a sleeping person. The pest is quite cautious and fearful, and will not approach a person when he is awake.
Different types of cockroaches have their favorite places. Black cockroaches live in the kitchen, red ones can penetrate cracks and move from room to room.
conclusions
To exclude the reappearance of barbel in the apartment, it is necessary to maintain cleanliness, especially in the kitchen area. Make sure there is no food or crumbs on the table and no dirty dishes in the sink. Cockroaches love to settle in apartments with unsanitary conditions.
From time to time in the kitchen, treat with special gels or bait traps.
Often, cockroaches appear again, crawling from neighboring apartments, so all measures for their destruction of mustachioed pests must be carried out simultaneously by all neighbors.
How do cockroaches bite?
After a bite, fleas and bedbugs leave a bloody point on the human body, around which the skin is inflamed.
Cockroaches do not bite, but gnaw at human skin and leave wounds with slightly ragged edges. The affected area of skin looks like a scar after a boil or pimple. Cockroaches are able to bite through human skin in several places at the same time. Insect tissue, harmful dust particles and pathogens on the pest's mouth apparatus, if they enter the wound during a bite, can cause infection and an allergic reaction. During and after the bite, the person feels discomfort and a slight tingling sensation.
When viewed under a microscope, a deep, crusty bite can be recorded. Inside the wound, bruises and fragments of dried lymph are observed. Cockroach bites are painful, the appearance of itching after a bite indicates an infection of the wound.
Regeneration after a cockroach bite is a rather lengthy process, since the upper layer of the epidermis is affected. To quickly restore the integrity of the skin, it is necessary to treat the wound with an antiseptic solution.
Danger of attack by the Prussians
One accidental bite is not dangerous to humans. If the attacks are regular, numerous, lips, eyes, ears, nose, face, genitals may be affected. Insects climb on a person, then look for a favorable place for a meal.
Infection can get into open wounds, inflammation, swelling, suppuration begins. Often, the body reacts to the ingestion of cockroach saliva with allergies. A rash, itching, burning, redness, swelling appears on the body. With numerous bites, the body temperature rises, the general well-being worsens.
What a cockroach bite looks like in the photo
The cockroach bite is significantly different from the bite of other insects.Visualization allows you to see the absence of a part of the epidermis, as well as the depth of the wound, which is covered with a hard crust up to 5 mm in diameter. In people with sensitive skin, the crust can grow large. Sometimes it can be indistinguishable from allergies.
Features and capabilities of the oral apparatus
The insect has small but well-developed jaws. Calmly grinds rough food, even copes with wood. The mouth apparatus is a gnawing type with the upper and lower lips, jaws, blades, chins, palp.
Oral apparatus
Insects gnaw part of the epidermis, get to the blood, eat for a few minutes, and quickly crawl away. A stain with baked blood and a crust remains in place. The whole process of a cockroach bite looks scary, but the traces remain small. Insects have powerful, but too small jaws to cause significant harm. The cockroach's face is small with extended lips.
The reasons for the attack on a person
The reasons why cockroaches attack people are starvation, lack of access to water and an increase in pest populations. Cockroaches can live no longer than 2 days without water. Not getting the moisture it needs through water, juice, fruits or vegetables, the insect strives for human skin. He searches for food and water necessary for himself, obtaining them from the corners of the mouth or eyes of a person, as well as from other parts of the body.
The reason for the attack of cockroaches on a person can also be a lack of food, due to a large number of insects in a given room, when not everyone has enough food and water.
Boric acid
This is an absolutely safe substance for people and pets, and it has a detrimental effect on the Prussians. Coming into contact with this remedy, the whole body of the Prussians begins to itch strongly. This later leads to their death, but each poisoned insect manages to return to the nest, where the infection of the rest of its relatives occurs.
Such a chain reaction leads to the destruction of the entire pest population. Boric acid is used to treat all spaces near water sources, a place near a trash can, a baseboard. You can mix it with food, roll it into balls and spread it out where cockroaches like to accumulate most.
What to do with bites, first aid
The secret of cockroaches contains a special protein that, when bitten, enters the human body and can cause a severe allergic reaction. Allergy can manifest itself in different ways, depending on the resistance of a person's immunity to protein. In the early days, allergies can look like hives, then lead to asthmatic attacks.
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An insect bite can also cause:
- Numerous inflammatory foci at the site of skin damage. Crusts form on the surface of the inflammation, and as a result, scars. The bite can provoke the development of dermatitis, accompanied by redness and irritation. Such consequences are caused by the bites of red cockroaches that live at home and bite a person in a dream.
- Development of serious diseases such as dysentery, tuberculosis. Red cockroaches are carriers of these pathologies.
- The appearance of erosion, papules, blisters. Such consequences appear after the bite of American and Egyptian cockroaches. The bites of these pests are painful, often purulent crusts form after the bite. If the victim has a weakened immune system, the bite sites heal for a long time, turning into ulcers.
A cockroach bite requires quick and urgent treatment. A dermatologist is involved in the treatment.
If you find cockroach bites, you need to urgently provide first aid. It is necessary to treat the wound with an antiseptic to prevent infection.To soften the skin and relieve irritation, it is advised to apply an ointment or moisturizer.
If the victim is prone to allergies, you need to give him any antihistamine.
Wound treatment
The first step after a bite is found on the skin is to treat it with any antiseptic to prevent infection. Then you should smear this place with a product that relieves itching and irritation. If a person is susceptible to various types of allergies, then it makes sense to take an antihistamine.
If the bitten area is not scratched, it will heal within 2-3 days.... It is worth contacting a dermatologist if the wound is very disturbing and does not heal for a long time.
Take an antihistamine if bitten by a cockroach.
Favorite bite sites
Cockroaches can bite any part of the body, but especially often they bite the hands and face. Since the task of the pest is to find water and food debris, those parts of the body that have contact with food fall into the risk zone.
More often than other areas, cockroaches bite the area of the fingers, around the nail, the corners of the mouth, the area of the cheeks and lower jaw, lips.
Wounds on the lips take a long time to heal, constant contact with food irritates the wound and creates conditions that inhibit the regeneration process. Food debris often contributes to the development of infectious processes in the tissues of the lips.
Cockroaches often target infants because of the abundance of formula or breast milk in the baby's mouth. The child reacts to discomfort with loud crying. A cockroach bite is especially dangerous for newborns, since they have an incompletely formed immune system and the likelihood of developing an allergic reaction is high. To prevent cockroach attacks on children, it is necessary to carry out hygienic procedures in a timely manner.
Are cockroaches nasty insects or pests?
Cockroaches, making their way into electrical appliances in search of heat, contaminate the details of delicate mechanisms with their excrement. As a result - a short circuit, malfunctions of devices. And in general, it is not pleasant enough when an insect is marching on the screen of a working laptop or TV and instantly disappears into the depths of technology, as soon as you try to get close to it.
Cockroaches crawl inside electrical appliances and spoil parts with excrement
The question arises: what's the big deal? Well, a cockroach - and a cockroach, just think ... An ordinary insect, of which there are many on the streets of the city and in nature. You are not a monster to kill every bug that comes your way! However, here's a fact: many people are disgusted with cockroaches. For some, it develops into a panic fear - blattophobia.
Have you grinned? Why? Are you not squeamish? We are in a hurry to "please" you: you are even more unlucky than blattophobes. Are you not embarrassed by the neighborhood with cockroaches? You just don't know how dangerous they are.
How to treat?
If a cockroach bite is found, it is necessary to treat the wound with chlorhexidine, hydrogen peroxide (3%) or medical alcohol.
It is necessary to treat cockroach bites when fixing the inflammatory process using anti-inflammatory drugs, in particular Fenistila, Akriderm, Levomekol. When allergies occur, antihistamines should be used.
It is not allowed to cauterize the wound with iodine or brilliant green, this will make it difficult to visualize the damaged area of the skin, and suppuration may develop under the formed crust.
Harm from poisoned parasites
Even poisoned insects pose a certain danger - after disinfestation carried out in a living room, using pesticides. Such specimens can harm pets: cats, dogs, birds. They playfully catch them and eat them, which leads to severe intoxication.
Most of the progressive insecticides with a prolonged spectrum of action, so that barbel is not immediately exterminated.For some time they are still moving, albeit inhibited. So still a living cockroach holds a poisonous bomb.
Cats are more sensitive to insecticides, especially pyrethroids. The first symptom of poisoning will be the appearance of salivation. The animal behaves inappropriately.
Therefore, for the time of sanitation and the next 1-2 days, it is recommended to take away not only people, but also animals from the living quarters. Bullying can also negatively affect the person performing the pest control. To prevent such an outcome, they thoroughly study the instructions for use of the insecticide, and observe safety precautions. Wear a respirator when working. | Read about effective remedies for cockroaches ...
In reality, few people are careful, so there are cases of poisoning. Often everything is limited to mild indisposition: dizziness, nausea, migraine.
What is the danger of a bite?
The danger of bites is the possible penetration of a serious infection. An inflammatory process often develops under the dried crust. The presence of an inflammatory focus is indicated by hyperemic skin around the wound, as well as the presence of swelling.
The lack of adequate treatment leads to the development of a purulent-inflammatory course. The victim has a fever; when feeling the wound, the patient feels pain, as well as constant pulsation.
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Cockroaches carry various parasitic, fungal and intestinal infections. The latter can develop as a result of eating foods with the excrement of the pest.
Rarely, but there is a possibility of a dangerous disease - myiasis. The disease consists in the penetration of the cockroach larva into the thickness of the skin and its further development. Myiasis is treated surgically, drying out the larva with healthy tissue structures and applying an antiseptic dressing.
Often, a bite wound becomes infected as a result of scratching or the presence of pathogens on the legs of a cockroach. Cockroach saliva contains toxic components that can cause a strong allergic reaction.
Can a cockroach crawl into your ear
The news that cockroaches are in the ears of people will be perplexed to another person, and will cause a skeptical smile in someone. But for those who have experienced what a cockroach is in the ear, believe me, there was no laughing matter.
The online version of the British edition of The Guardian published the story of a man named Hendrik Helmer, who one night felt the signs of a cockroach in his ear, and as a result experienced a real nightmare. He tells:
“I woke up at 2 am and realized that I could not hear in one ear. Through my sleep, I was still thinking badly, but I realized that there was something inside. It was difficult to understand what it was, the finger did not go deep enough to feel, but I felt that my ear seemed to be swollen from the inside. Later it turned out that it was a two-centimeter cockroach, which apparently fell on my head from the ceiling.
As I later found out, if the cockroach climbed into the ear (and the signs indicated that it was large), then it could no longer move in the opposite direction. The cockroach's legs were trapped between its torso and the ear canal, and it had only one option - to move forward, so it scratched and pushed its way into the depths, biting its mouth into my eardrum. The pain was such as if someone had stuck a knitting needle into the ear and pressed on it. "
Further, this man described how he tried to get a cockroach out of his ear on his own: he shook his head so that it fell out, sucked it out with a vacuum cleaner, substituting the nozzle directly to the ear, flooded the ear with water, but to no avail, the pain only intensified. He's writing:
“I writhed in pain until I finally fell into a fetal position and my muscles began to twitch.My head was bursting with tension, I clenched my teeth with all my strength so as not to cry "
Then he woke up his friend, and he took him to the hospital - the doctor was surprised to find a cockroach in his ear. She poured olive oil into her ear to deprive the insect of oxygen, and after 15 minutes the cockroach stopped moving. The man recalls:
“The pain I felt up to this point was nothing compared to the pain I felt when the cockroach fought in its death throes. Then the doctor slowly pulled it out with long tweezers, and I finally felt relief. "
Agree, hardly anyone is ready in advance for such a situation and knows what to do if a cockroach gets into the ear. Meanwhile, despite the seeming exoticism, this problem is not so rare, and some ENT doctors have already accumulated rich experience in how to get a cockroach out of the ear. For example, here's a short video of one such case:
Cockroach in the ear - video
"Cockroaches look for food everywhere, and they might like earwax."
Coby Schal, entomologist at the University of North Carolina
Another publication described a similar story that happened in Florida (USA) with a woman named Katie. Also in the middle of the night she woke up from discomfort in her ear, went to the bathroom, gently crawled into her ear with a cotton swab, and felt that someone was moving inside there. In addition to this horror, when she pulled out a cotton swab, she saw stick-shaped pieces adhered, similar to the legs of an insect ...
At first, Katie's husband tried to remove the insect with tweezers, but pulled out only a couple more legs, the cockroach climbed deep inside. They drove to the hospital, and the doctor took the cockroach body fragments from Katie's ear. But after a week and a half, Katie was still not getting better, she felt that her ear was numb.
On the next visit to the hospital, the therapist examined the ear with an otoscope and discovered another cockroach leg. The doctor recovered six more insect fragments, but fearing that this was not all, he directed Katy to the ENT, who finally took a huge marzipan cockroach (Eurycotis floridana) out of her ear.
The marzipan or Florida tree cockroach lives in the USA (Florida), looks like a black cockroach, only with a reddish tint. The size of the imago reaches 3-4 cm.
But if this is a nightmare for an adult, then imagine what a shock it would be if a cockroach was in a child's ear. In order not to get confused in such a situation, take note of the recommendations below.
What to do if a cockroach gets into a child's ear
From the cases described above, it can be seen that when a cockroach is in the ear, this is indicated by clear symptoms: a sensation of a foreign living organism, difficulty hearing and acute pain in the ear. Even if the child is unable to explain, the parents can understand from his behavior what is bothering him.
So, if you realize that a cockroach has crawled into your child's ear, take a look at the following tips from the University of Rochester Medical Center:
- Calm your child down first.
- Do not poke into an insect in a child's ear with a cotton swab or something else. You can damage the middle ear and eardrum, or push the cockroach deeper inside.
- Tilt the baby's head to one side and carefully shake. Don't hit child on the head.
- If after this the insect does not fall out, pour a small amount of baby oil into the ear canal. This usually kills the cockroach.
- If you think the cockroach has died but still remains inside, gently flush the ear canal with warm water using a syringe. The cockroach should float out.
- Do not pour water into the ear canal unless the object in the ear is an insect
See your doctor immediately in the following situations:
- Child has ear infections
- Are you afraid to put oil or water in your child's ear
- Only parts of the insect's body were removed
- If the child shows signs of infection: odor and / or discharge from the ear, fever
Cockroach bite myths
Opinions about cockroaches are widespread, which are often not true.
The first myth
Many believe that because cockroaches are not harmed by the radiation they accumulate in themselves, their bites can cause mutations.
The truth is that these mustachioed pests can withstand radiation that is 15 times the permissible amount for humans. But accumulation and mutation as a result of a bite is a fantasy.
Second myth
It is believed that cockroaches love to eat earwax, nails and human hair.
In fact, cockroaches are omnivorous, and can bite a sleeping person anywhere. They can crawl into a person's ears, posing a serious danger to health and life.
The third myth
It is often said that a cockroach bite can cause anaphylactic shock.
The appearance of such a pathological condition is possible in rare cases. Most often, a person affected by a cockroach bite has an allergic reaction, which manifests itself in the form of itching, lacrimation and shortness of breath.
Chemicals
Cleaning and folk remedies alone are not enough to permanently rid your apartment of cockroaches. To combat the Prusaks, the use of various insecticidal preparations will certainly be required. Let's talk about the most popular chemicals.
Aerosols and sprays
Today, people use aerosols to kill longhorn beetles less and less, since there is a risk of the sprayed product entering the human respiratory tract and the likelihood that cockroaches will be able to adapt to it. You will have to use different aerosols each time, so that insects do not develop an addiction to the same composition.
Gel preparations
These are the most widely used cockroach control agents. The composition of the gel necessarily includes a toxic active substance and a fragrant bait, which attracts pests. It is applied in the form of solid strips or paths of drops in the places of greatest dislocation of insects.
A number of gel preparations have bitterness, which can scare away pets. But it is better to refrain from using the gel in the places accessible to them.
Traps
Today in specialized stores you can buy various varieties of cockroach traps. Or you can make it on your own from small boxes, in which you need to make one small inlet. It is necessary to put a fragrant bait inside such a device. Every day, caught cockroaches need to be shaken out of there. The toilet is best suited for this.
An industrial-made electric trap kills all Prussians entering it with an electric shock.
Sticky houses
This device looks like a house with a tasty and aromatic bait inside. But its walls are pasted over with adhesive tape, to which all the legs of a barbel are glued, attracted by a pleasant aroma. As a result, the insect dies. It is surprising that the parasites that came later are not afraid of the corpse of their relative in the house. They also stick to the tape and die. Putting such a device in the evening, in the morning you can see that it is filled to the brim with dead cockroaches.
Cockroach Preventive Measures
The extermination of cockroaches is the main condition for the prevention of their bites. A radical way to solve the problem is disinfection, which can be organized both independently and with the involvement of special organizations.
To prevent pest bites, you must:
- Keep the bed clean and avoid getting crumbs and grease on the sheets;
- Take a shower before going to bed and do not eat after water procedures;
- Spray yourself with insect spray or use creams with a similar effect;
- Treat the walls, floor near the bed with a special insecticidal pencil.
It is also important to monitor the cleanliness of the room, the health of the sewage system. It is necessary to seal up all the cracks in the floor, walls and ceiling, install fine-mesh grilles for ventilation, and regularly take out the garbage. Food should be kept sealed and dishes should be washed immediately after eating.
Cockroaches are sinatropic parasites. To prevent their appearance and further troubles, it is important to monitor household sanitary and hygienic conditions. If signs of the presence of pests are detected, the room should be treated with special equipment in a timely manner.
Finding nesting sites
To rid your home of these unpleasant insects, you must first of all find all their nesting sites.
The most effective and easiest way to spot Prussians is with bait. Put some food on a plate, place it in the kitchen, and turn off the lights. A little later, turning on the light, you will see insects crawling in different directions.
You can find the places of deployment of cockroaches along the paths of dots of dark brown color - these are excrements left by barbel. Dried skins (chitinous covers), which can be seen on or near food, under the sink, on dishes or wallpaper, will also help to find out where the Prusaks can nest. If the population of cockroaches is large, you can notice the appearance of a specific smell in the apartment.
Having found barbel at home, you need to start breeding them as soon as possible, because they are very prolific and their number is growing every day.
Testimonials
Dear readers, you can leave your feedback on whether domestic cockroaches bite in the comments, your opinion will be useful to other users of the site!
Olya
I didn't know that cockroaches are capable of attacking people. When a neighbor's child had such a problem, she was very scared. Now I constantly monitor the house, I think that there is a risk of parasites entering our apartment from the neighboring one.
Vladimir
When I served in the navy, I had a case. The cockroach bit the ear. It was very painful, the wound was treated with antiseptics, and a bandage was made. Thanks to strong immunity, the wound healed quickly. But after that, I can honestly say, I'm terribly afraid of cockroaches.
Professional services
If, despite all the efforts, it was not possible to bring the Prussians out on your own, then you need to entrust this matter to professional services. Today, the service for breeding cockroaches is provided by numerous companies that have special equipment and qualified personnel. The list of pest control measures includes:
- an initial survey aimed at determining the extent of contamination of the premises;
- choosing a method for exterminating insects;
- pest control.
All companies engaged in such activities should use only approved drugs. During pest control measures, all windows in the room must be open, and there must be no people in the room. Before starting work, you must hide all food and personal belongings in order to avoid the ingress of chemicals on them. At the end of the processing, the apartment must certainly be ventilated.
Undoubtedly, pest control performed by professional companies will have a greater effect than self-extermination of insects. Often, processing is carried out in several apartments and in common areas at once.
A gram of prevention is worth a kilogram of struggle
No matter how hard you try to fight cockroaches, all your attempts may be unsuccessful. Sometimes they just appear out of nowhere. But, of course, you still need to take measures.
There are several ways to prevent them from invading your apartment.Cockroaches are attracted to a variety of boxes, and they can also come into the house with bags from grocery stores. Thus, try to check all items before bringing them into the house if you suspect you might be bringing in cockroaches. For example, if you spent a weekend in an unclean hotel, the same goes for the things of your child who returns for the holidays from the institute hostel.
If the infestation of a house or apartment has already begun, you can be sure that the cockroaches are planning to stay with you for a long time. If you leave them without food, they will switch to a diet of soap, toothpaste, and even books. And if you forget to leave dirty dishes in the sink, the cockroaches will have a real buffet that will not help you in the fight against them.
Given that they usually live in warm and cluttered places (which is consistent with their natural habitat), insects are often chosen as a home for kitchens and bathrooms. Although food can attract them to the hall and bedroom.
