RATS, fleas, mice and bed bugs have been plaguing Addenbrooke's Hospital wards.
Health chiefs are itching to get to the bottom of why more than a dozen infestations happened in the last year - which included a "suspected
Bosses paid pest controllers £20,000 in 2008/9 to rid wards and staff areas in the prestigious Cambridge University hospital of disease carrying vermin.
Figures released to the News under the Freedom of Information Act revealed the extent of the problem at the massive hospital.
Critics have accused hospital chiefs of having their eye on hitting targets rather than keeping their noses to the ground to sniff out disease carriers.
Cllr Geoff Heathcock, chairman of Cambridgeshire County Council's health scrutiny committee, said: "I am absolutely appalled that in the 21st Century, the largest hospital in the county can have such a wide ranging problem with infestation.
"This poses many questions about how high up the board's priorities cleanliness really is rather than chasing imposed performance targets."
But health chiefs insist they have a clean record on pest control compared to other trusts.
An Addenbrooke's spokeswoman said: "Our patients expect 100 per cent expert care in a clean, safe and comfortable environment. The trust takes pest control very seriously and employs an external company to perform monthly routine monitoring, provide advice and treat any infestations."
Previous figures revealed Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust called out pest controllers 228 times between January 2006 and April 2008 to deal with rodents and insects.
The results of the Freedom of Information Act request also showed Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Addenbrooke's, had problems with ants, wasps and flies.
No information was collected from Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust which has a contract with a pest control company.
Hinchingbrooke revealed it had to deal with rats, mice, ants, biting insects, fleas, wasps, flies, squirrels, silverfish, bugs, woodlice, bees, hornets and "unspecified insects".
Showing posts with label Bed Bugs in the News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bed Bugs in the News. Show all posts
Monday, March 8, 2010
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Bed Bugs Becoming Problem in Ohio
There are more reports of bed bugs surfacing in Ohio, and hotel rooms seem to be their breeding grounds.
65 to 70 percent of hotel rooms have reported infestations at one time.
"Most likely it's because of our mobile society. People do a lot of traveling and they're picking those insects up either in another state or even in anouther country, bringing them back to Ohio, " says OSU Extension Program's Mark Mechling.
The bed bugs have also developed a resistance to the conventional insecticides being used to kill them. So, the Ohio Department of Agriculture is looking to other means to help control the problem.
"They're proposing to use another insecticide that hasn't been used for a number of years. They're petitioning the epa to allow this insecticide to be used by commercial applicators to control the bed bugs, " says Mechling.
Mechling says the EPA is in the process of measuring the risks or benefits of this particular insecticide.
Source By: Emily Baird
Posted: Monday, November 16, 2009 - 5:56pm
65 to 70 percent of hotel rooms have reported infestations at one time.
"Most likely it's because of our mobile society. People do a lot of traveling and they're picking those insects up either in another state or even in anouther country, bringing them back to Ohio, " says OSU Extension Program's Mark Mechling.
The bed bugs have also developed a resistance to the conventional insecticides being used to kill them. So, the Ohio Department of Agriculture is looking to other means to help control the problem.
"They're proposing to use another insecticide that hasn't been used for a number of years. They're petitioning the epa to allow this insecticide to be used by commercial applicators to control the bed bugs, " says Mechling.
Mechling says the EPA is in the process of measuring the risks or benefits of this particular insecticide.
Source By: Emily Baird
Posted: Monday, November 16, 2009 - 5:56pm
Friday, November 6, 2009
Feds Waking Up To Nightmare Of Bedbugs
(CBS/ AP) The federal government is waking up to what has become a growing nightmare in many parts of the country - a bed bug outbreak.
The tiny reddish-brown insects, last seen in great numbers prior to World War II, are on the rebound. They have infested college dormitories, hospital wings, homeless shelters and swanky hotels from New York City to Chicago to Washington.
They live in the crevices and folds of mattresses, sofas and sheets. Then, most often before dawn, they emerge to feed on human blood.
Faced with rising numbers of complaints to city information lines and increasingly frustrated landlords, hotel chains and housing authorities, the Environmental Protection Agency is hosting its first-ever bed bug summit on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The venue - the Sheraton Crystal City Hotel in Arlington - has had no reported bed bug problems, according to a popular online registry, so at least conference participants will be sleeping tight.
"The problem seems to be increasing and it could definitely be worse in densely populated areas like cities, although it can be a problem for anyone," said Lois Rossi, director of the registration division in the EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs.
One of the problems, according to researchers and the pesticide industry, is that there are few chemicals on the market approved for use on mattresses that are effective at reducing bed bug numbers.
The EPA, out of concern for the environment and the effects on public health, has pulled many of the chemicals that were most effective in eradicating the bugs from the U.S. over the last 50 years - such as DDT - off of shelves.
Increasing international travel has also increased the chances for the bugs to hitchhike from developing countries which never eradicated them completely.
"This is a worldwide resurgence," said Dini Miller, an entomologist and bed bug expert at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, who until 2001 only saw bed bugs on microscope slides dating from the 1950s. Now she gets calls several times a day from people who are often at their wits end dealing with the problem.
"I can't tell you how many people have spent the night in their bath tubs because they are so freaked out by bed bugs," Miller said. "I get these people over the phone that have lost their marbles."
Bed bugs are not known to transmit any diseases. But people have had an allergic reaction to their bites. The insects release an anticoagulant to get blood flowing, and they also excrete a numbing agent so their bites don't often stir a victim's slumber.
In a recent review of research on the pesky critters, researchers reviewed 53 recent studies on bedbugs and their health and medical effects. The results showed that although bedbugs have been blamed for the spread of up to 40 different human diseases, there is little evidence to suggest they are carriers of human disease.
Those often hardest hit are the urban poor, Miller said. These are people who cannot afford to throw out all their belongings or take the sanitation measures necessary to rid them of the problem.
Because the registration of new pesticides takes so long, one thing the EPA could do is to approve some pesticides for emergency use, Miller said.
The pesticide industry will be pushing for federal funding for research into alternative solutions, such as heating, freezing or steaming the bugs out of bedrooms.
"We need to have better tools," said Greg Baumann, a senior scientist at the National Pest Management Association. "We need EPA to consider all the options for us."
Source: (CBS / AP)
The tiny reddish-brown insects, last seen in great numbers prior to World War II, are on the rebound. They have infested college dormitories, hospital wings, homeless shelters and swanky hotels from New York City to Chicago to Washington.
They live in the crevices and folds of mattresses, sofas and sheets. Then, most often before dawn, they emerge to feed on human blood.
Faced with rising numbers of complaints to city information lines and increasingly frustrated landlords, hotel chains and housing authorities, the Environmental Protection Agency is hosting its first-ever bed bug summit on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The venue - the Sheraton Crystal City Hotel in Arlington - has had no reported bed bug problems, according to a popular online registry, so at least conference participants will be sleeping tight.
"The problem seems to be increasing and it could definitely be worse in densely populated areas like cities, although it can be a problem for anyone," said Lois Rossi, director of the registration division in the EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs.
One of the problems, according to researchers and the pesticide industry, is that there are few chemicals on the market approved for use on mattresses that are effective at reducing bed bug numbers.
The EPA, out of concern for the environment and the effects on public health, has pulled many of the chemicals that were most effective in eradicating the bugs from the U.S. over the last 50 years - such as DDT - off of shelves.
Increasing international travel has also increased the chances for the bugs to hitchhike from developing countries which never eradicated them completely.
"This is a worldwide resurgence," said Dini Miller, an entomologist and bed bug expert at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, who until 2001 only saw bed bugs on microscope slides dating from the 1950s. Now she gets calls several times a day from people who are often at their wits end dealing with the problem.
"I can't tell you how many people have spent the night in their bath tubs because they are so freaked out by bed bugs," Miller said. "I get these people over the phone that have lost their marbles."
Bed bugs are not known to transmit any diseases. But people have had an allergic reaction to their bites. The insects release an anticoagulant to get blood flowing, and they also excrete a numbing agent so their bites don't often stir a victim's slumber.
In a recent review of research on the pesky critters, researchers reviewed 53 recent studies on bedbugs and their health and medical effects. The results showed that although bedbugs have been blamed for the spread of up to 40 different human diseases, there is little evidence to suggest they are carriers of human disease.
Those often hardest hit are the urban poor, Miller said. These are people who cannot afford to throw out all their belongings or take the sanitation measures necessary to rid them of the problem.
Because the registration of new pesticides takes so long, one thing the EPA could do is to approve some pesticides for emergency use, Miller said.
The pesticide industry will be pushing for federal funding for research into alternative solutions, such as heating, freezing or steaming the bugs out of bedrooms.
"We need to have better tools," said Greg Baumann, a senior scientist at the National Pest Management Association. "We need EPA to consider all the options for us."
Source: (CBS / AP)
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