Bed bugs invade homes, apartments, hotels, workplaces, nursing homes and other places where people live, congregate and travel. People who live in and visit South Carolina sometimes have to deal with the consequences of coming in contact with bed bugs.
Receive a free consultation with the pre-litigation South Carolina bed bug attorney to discuss your South Carolina bed bug case representation.
What are the characteristics of bed bugs?
If you know bed bug characteristics, you can likely determine if you have a bed bug infestation or if your hotel has bed bugs.
Adult bed bugs are approximately the size of an apple seed and reddish brown. However, bed bug size and color varies, depending on life cycle stage and the last blood meal. Nymphs are nearly translucent. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reveals other bed bug characteristics:
- Bed bugs typically have a flat, oval body
- Bed bugs that had a recent blood meal are more elongated and more reddish brown
- Bed bug eggs are tiny, a pearly-white color, may have an “eye spot”
Bed bug infestations are possible all throughout South Carolina, including Columbia, Charleston, Mount Pleasant, Rock Hill, Greenville, Summerville, and Sumter. We can represent clients throughout the entire state.
How do I know if I have bed bugs?
If you know what to look for, you can likely determine if you have a bed bug infestation in your South Carolina house, apartment, hotel room or workplace.
Bed bugs hide in mattresses, box springs and bedding. They hide in sofas or other upholstered furniture, including in cushions and seams. Bed bugs hide in drawers and joints of wood furniture. You can find them behind wall hangings and in folds and seams of curtains and draperies. Bed bugs hide along baseboards, window frames and electrical outlets.
Anyone can have a bed bug infestation, no matter how clean a person keeps their home. Practicing excellent hygiene has no bearing on whether you get bed bugs either. Staying at a higher priced South Carolina hotel does not mean that the better South Carolina hotel does not have bed bugs.
Bed bugs bite several times, injecting a numbing substance into their host victim, which is why some people are not immediately aware of the bites. The bites appear in a slight zigzag pattern, as raised red bumps or welts.
Can bed bugs make people sick?
Some people believe that bed bug bites do not cause any serious issues. However, bed bugs can cause an allergic reaction and asthmatic symptoms. Some people suffer emotionally after coming in contact with bed bugs.
The American Academy of Dermatology points out that bed bugs potentially cause a “serious or even life-threatening reaction.” You could feel sick, have a fever, develop blisters, have a swollen tongue, experience difficulty breathing, irregular heartbeat or other cardiac difficulties.
Bed bugs carry and transmit diseases, making them a pathogen carrying vector. Some researchers have known for decades that bed bugs can make people ill.
The Lancet released research results from July 1977 titled, “Hepatitis-B Virus in Bedbugs (CimexHemipterus) From Senegal.” After researchers discovered bed bugs testing positive for Hepatitis-B in all four samples taken from the residences of villagers, they determined, “These are the highest field infection-rates of hepatitis-B virus reported in any insect species.” Researchers stated that bed bugs “Must be considered a potential vector of hepatitis-B virus.”
In 2014, Science Daily revealed results of research conducted by the Penn Medicine Perelman School of Medicine, Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Researchers determined, “Bed bugs, like the triatomines, can transmit Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite that causes Chagas disease.” Chagas disease is potentially deadly, killing about 50,000 people annually. Co-author Ricardo Castillo-Neyra, DVM, PhD, stated, “Our work shows for the first time that bed bugs can transmit the parasite when their feces are in contact with broken skin, the route by which humans are usually infected.”
Consult with a bed bug attorney in South Carolina
When you suffer the loss of personal property, lost wages, medical bills, suffer emotional issues or other damages related to bed bugs that are not your fault, you can possibly recover your losses. You do not have to suffer losses because of the negligence of South Carolina landlords, hotels or retail establishments. Our office represents victims of South Carolina bed bug bites on a pre-litigation basis.
Receive your free consultation for your South Carolina bed bug case representation.