Respiratory diseases in patients with bed bugs.

INTRODUCTION: Some arthropods such as cockroaches can exacerbate asthma, but it is unknown is this is true of bed bugs.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this work is to determine if bronchospastic diseases like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) would be higher for ED patients who have bed bug infestation compared with patients who do not have bed bug infestation.

METHODS: A case-control study was performed with 332 adult emergency department (ED) patients with bed bug infestation and 4952 without infestation. Univariable and multivariable regression analysis was performed.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Patients with bed bug infestation were not more likely to have a past history of or an ED diagnosis of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, bed bug infested patients were significantly more likely to undergo chest radiography, be admitted to the hospital, and receive albuterol in the ED (P < 0.05). Infested patients receiving albuterol in the ED were more likely to be admitted to the hospital compared with uninfested patients receiving albuterol (P < 0.001). Patients with an ED or inpatient diagnosis of asthma or COPD and bed bugs (compared with those without bed bugs) had significantly more ED visits during the study (P < 0.03). Bed bug infestations may be associated with respiratory pathology, which requires further investigation.