Bed bugs have been spotted in the emergency room of the Nantes University Hospital. A disinfestation campaign was organized and the organization of the service turned upside down.
A host who is undesirable to say the least has taken up residence in the emergency room of the Nantes University Hospital (Loire-Atlantique). Several boxes in the ward are infected with bedbugs. Discovered on September 18, the critters arrived with a patient, admitted to the emergency room and transferred to the short-term hospitalization unit.
While awaiting disinsection, the organization of the establishment has been modified. The objective: to limit the movements of this blood-drinking heteroptera. And the Nantes University Hospital is wasting no time in its fight against this modern-day vampire. It must be said that a female lays about ten eggs per day …
Multiple hiding places
Following the usual procedures, the UHCD was treated by fumigation. “Tomorrow or the day after, we will completely treat the emergency reception service,” explains to Why actor Prof. Didier Lepelletier, bacteriology, virology and hospital hygiene laboratory. The premises are emptied because the fumigation is spreading everywhere. “While waiting for the end of the alert, the organization of emergencies in Nantes is turned upside down. A marquee will remain in place for two days in the establishment’s parking lot. Patients will be referred and sorted there according to their symptoms.
“It is possible that we redo a second fumigation in 8 to 10 days but this will block emergencies less”, predicts Professor Lepelletier. A necessary passage. Because the beast is particularly tough, and the products do not act on the eggs. “It is therefore necessary to pass a second time, three weeks after the first passage, to destroy the larvae”, explained recently to Why actor Stéphane Bras, CS3D spokesperson.
Maintenance workers should be extra careful when cleaning the premises. Each time you vacuum, the bag should be discarded. If the box spring and the mattress are the privileged residence, these heteropterans can hide in the sofa, the parquet baseboards, the wallpaper, the electrical outlets… Either all the dark places where they will be protected from the light. And they can stay there for 2 years without feeding.
200,000 households affected
For 48 hours, CHU staff and patients will also be called upon to change their habits. “We made disposable clothing available so that the gowns and street clothes are not infected”, indicates Didier Lepelletier. Those who arrived before the fumigation are invited to wash their laundry at 60 ° C, which eliminates larvae and eggs.
The unions are still on a war footing. According to West France, they called for an extraordinary working conditions health and safety committee (CHSCT) on the subject. It will be held on September 19. But the health of patients is not threatened. “Bedbugs do not transmit any infectious disease,” recalls Professor Lepelletier. The bites can cause lesions of urticaria, when they are numerous. The disorganization, and the fact that bedbugs are attributed to poor hygiene, can also have a psychological impact. “
The Nantes University Hospital is unfortunately not the only one to serve as a meal for bedbugs. According to the Trade Union Chamber of Disinfection, Pest Control and Rat Control (CS3D), nearly 200,000 homes are paying the price. The last large-scale infestation was reported in Stains (Seine-Saint-Denis), where 200 families had to fight the beast. What to feed whole nights of nightmare.
How to spot bed bugs?
Bed bugs can be found mainly by the traces they leave. Its bites, painless, leave red traces in a straight line or grouped in the same place. They are often numerous. Voracious, the beast can feed up to 90 times per night. Black stains or blood on the sheets are also a good indicator of their presence. Indeed, after having satiated our blood, the Heteroptera leave excrements. Hosts, decidedly, very unscrupulous.
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