There comes a time in life when it becomes necessary to trust those we love to nursing home care. Being advanced in age can come with many complications that must be dealt with by someone with medical training. Nursing homes provide this continual aid. And that gives those who care about their loved one’s peace of mind. But, not all who live in nursing homes need medical treatment every day. Some may not get a physical examination for weeks. So, when bed bugs begin to appear, it can go unnoticed by nursing home staff. You may be wondering, why don’t the elderly report the bed bug bites? It is actually a complicated issue that makes nursing homes a prime target for these blood-eating pests.

Three Reasons Bed Bugs Aren’t Reported By Elderly People

• When bed bugs start to appear in the room of an elderly person, some respond to it with embarrassment. They come from an era where these bugs were considered pests that only dirty people got. We now know that bed bugs can infest the cleanest of places, but that doesn’t change the fact that this stigma still exists.

• Some elderly people respond to bed bugs with pride. They’ve lived their whole lives solving problems like bug infestations. They don’t need any help. They can do it themselves. But, when elderly people try to take care of these bugs, the results are ineffective at best, and deadly in the worst of cases.

• Perhaps the most pernicious reason bed bug infestations are such a serious problem for nursing homes stems from the fact that initial bed bug bites are not as serious for most elderly people. Bite marks are usually small. And, since it is much more likely that bed bugs will be reported when they leave red, painful welts on the skin, an infestation is able to take root where bites are less serious. But these bites can, and do, become worse over time. By then, the problem has spread to other rooms.

If you maintain a nursing home and you are in our Tennessee service area, let Russell’s Pest Control guide you in setting up a bed bug service plan that is routine and proactive. Not only are these bugs a torment for residents, they can be damaging to your reputation. With ongoing inspections from an educated pest control technician, and targeted control methods applied when bed bugs appear, your residents, and your reputation, will be protected.