Bed bugs are insects from the genus Cimex that feed on blood, usually at night. Their bites can result in a number of health impacts including skin rashes, psychological effects, and allergic symptoms. Bed bug bites

A definitive diagnosis of health effects due to bed bugs requires a search for and finding of the insect in the sleeping environment as symptoms are not sufficiently specific. It is difficult to distinguish bed bug bites from other arthropod bites and the

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). There however is no evidence that medications improve outcomes, and symptoms

Skin
The most common skin findings associated with bed bugs are pruritic, maculopapular, erythematous lesions. Each lesion is about 2–5

To prevent bringing home bed bugs, travelers are advised to take precautions after visiting an infested site: generally, these include checking

Bed bugs occur around the world. Before the 1950s about 30% of houses in the United States had bedbugs. This percentage has since

Cimicidae, the ancestor of modern bed bugs, first emerged approximately 115 million years ago, more than 30 million years before bats—their previously presumed initial host—first appeared. From unknown ancestral hosts, a variety of different lineages