Jerome Goddard, PhD

Here: a review of the potential health effects of bed bugs, diagnosis and treatment, and comments about future directions in bed bug control and public health efforts to manage the pest.

Ehrlichia species, which are transmitted by ticks, may causehuman monocytotrophic ehrlichiosis and human granulocyticanaplasmosis. Symptoms of infection include fever, headache,myalgia, progressive leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, and anemia.Diagnosis is based on clinical findings, although serologicaltests can identify the specific infectious ehrlichial organism.Tick repellents, particularly permethrin, can help prevent tickbites and lower the risk of infection by tick-borne pathogens.Tetracycline antibiotics are therapeutic for treatment ofehrlichial infections. [Infect Med. 2008;25:425-429]