Published: 18:03 BST, 17 August 2026 | Updated: 18:06 BST, 17 August 2026
Pesky bed bugs may not only cause nagging itching but also spread deadly bacteria that evades common treatments.
Just the size of an apple seed, the tiny reddish brown insects lurk between mattress seams and inside the cracks of wooden bed frames, waiting to feed on the blood from sleeping humans.
The bugs pierce the skin and leave behind itchy red welts, which may trigger allergic reactions.
They are not thought to spread diseases from person to person, but researchers now fear they may transmit antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
In a resurfaced study, University of South Dakota researchers exposed bed bugs to artificial skin contaminated by Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, better known as MRSA.
While generally harmless on the skin, leading to red and swollen boils, if MRSA seeps into the bloodstream through an open wound, it can trigger multi-organ failure and it kills about one in five patients.
And because MRSA does not respond to common antibiotics like methicillin and penicillin, treatment is limited to drugs that may carry a higher risk of side effects and take longer to reduce the infection.
The study found bed bugs could acquire MRSA from just one feeding and spread it to other people in subsequent feedings.
Measuring about the size of an apple seed, bed bugs lurk in mattresses and feed on human blood at night. Resurfaced research suggests they may also spread MRSA bacteria
Author of the 2023 study Jose Pietri, who is now at Purdue University, emphasized that more research is needed to confirm if bed bugs can truly spread MRSA to humans, but notes 'it changes the perspective of what bed bugs do, in terms of public health.'
Experts believe bed bugs originated over 245,000 years ago in caves, living on bat blood before eventually shifting to humans. Ancient records have reported their presence in Egypt and Greece, and European settlers brought them across the Atlantic to the American colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Since then, they have been detected in all 50 states, thriving particularly in hotels, and apartments that see high tourism and foot traffic.
The University of South Dakota study comes as bed bug infestations surge across the US. Experts estimate the bed bug population has increased five-fold over the past decade, with major metro areas bearing the brunt.
Recent data from pest control company Orkin shows Chicago is America's most bed bug-infested city for the fifth year in a row, which experts blame on its dense population, heavy tourist traffic and abundance of multi-unit buildings.
