Bedbug infestations have been on the rise since the late 1990s. More recently, after a possible decline during Covid-19 lockdowns, the resumption of travel may have contributed to a rebound in infestations.
Since the start of the school year in September, bedbugs have invaded many sheets. But especially the spirits. On social networks, videos and testimonies of victims of these insects have multiplied, showing the famous heteroptera wandering on the seats of subways, university amphitheaters or cinemas, to the point of making them one of the topics fall policies. Is this panic proportional to the scale of the phenomenon? And are there reliable indicators to assess the proliferation, fantasized or not, of these critters?
Jean-Michel Bérenger, medical entomologist at the IHU Méditerranée Infection and member of the expert committee of the National Institute for the Study and Control of Bedbugs (Inelp), is categorical: “The bedbug population has been increasing since the 1990s”. However, there is no reliable monitoring indicator to quantify this increase. For that, “a mandatory declaration should be put in place” cases of infestation with the authorities, he recommends. In the absence of a reliable scientific monitoring tool, one of the only indicators on which entomologists rely “is the activity of companies that disinect”explains the specialist.
Disinfestations on the rise
So what do the figures say on this front? According to the Trade Union Chamber of deratization, disinfection, disinsection (CS3D), the number of interventions for bedbugs has been increasing for several years in France. “It’s a fundamental progression, not a sudden explosion”, confirms the spokesperson for the organization, Stéphane Bras. In a parliamentary report (PDF) led by former LREM MP Cathy Racon-Bouzon, handed over to the Prime Minister in 2020, the CS3D already reported an increase in the number of interventions in the country: 200,000 in 2017, 400,000 in 2018, and 540 000 in 2019.
An increase which continued in the following years. The CS3D recorded 889,000 interventions in 2020, 977,900 in 2021 and 1,095,000 in 2022, according to figures sent to franceinfo. For 2023, Stéphane Bras already estimates that professional travel “have increased by 65% in the last four months”compared to the same period last year.
“We are on a high plateau which will last until measures are taken.”
Stéphane Brasspokesperson for the Union Chamber of Rodent Control, Disinfection, Disinfestation (CS3D)
But who says intervention does not necessarily mean infestation. Because not all bedbug infestations require professional intervention. Some individuals try to deal with the problem themselves. Furthermore, even if the increase in interventions is a good indicator of an upward trend, it does not mean that infestations are increasing proportionally.
One in ten households infested between 2017 and 2022
Alongside the numbers reported by professionals, rare studies based on “general population surveys” still exist. In July 2023, the National Health Security Agency (ANSES) published a survey (PDF) according to which 11% of households would have been infested between 2017 and 2022. Between 2016 and 2020, only 7% of households had been affected, according to another Ipsos study from February 2021 (PDF)commissioned by the company Badbugs, specializing in connecting individuals and pest control professionals. “We can therefore conclude that infestations tend to increase”confirms Anses, contacted by franceinfo.
The two studies also note a drop in infestations in 2020 and 2021 “which could be correlated with the period of confinement during Covid-19”, according to ANSES. But after deconfinement, infestations “have started again”, explains Jean-Michel Bérenger. Perhaps due to the resumption of travel after this health crisis, he suggests. The Ministry of Health also mentions “the increase in international travel” since the 1990s to justify the increase in the phenomenon. Because these insects move from one place to another, generally slipping into our luggage.
On the other hand, this fall is even more at risk as insects proliferate more when it is hot. “At 20°C, bedbug eggs will take ten days to hatch. At 28°C, only five days”, describes Jean-Michel Bérenger. This exceptionally hot month of September therefore did not help to slow down their reproduction.
“A media bubble effect”
From there to x-raying your mattress? While it is clear that bedbugs are proliferating, according to professionals in the sector, this growth has also been accompanied “a media bubble effect”according to Nicolas Roux de Bézieux, founder of Badbugs, contacted by franceinfo. “This summer, there was a focus on bedbugs with many people discovering the problem. Vigilance, even hypervigilance, was put in place. Certain infestations, which would have been treated in October or November, were detected earlier because of this spotlight.”, he continues. Same story with CS3D.
“No longer sitting in the metro or on the train, no longer going to the cinema, it’s nonsense.”
Stéphane Brasspokesperson for the Union Chamber of Rodent Control, Disinfection and Disinfestation (CS3D)
“People call us because they saw a beetle“deplores Stéphane Bras, for whom “We must not give in to panic.”. “Videos of bedbugs in trains and subways are playing over and over again, but there is no reason why there should be more of them than in other years. Last year, there were already a few, but people weren’t paying attention.”supports Nicolas Roux de Bézieux.
Furthermore, coming across one of the rare bedbugs that has managed to sneak into a subway does not mean that it will quickly end up under your duvet. The risk of bringing one back from public transport is “infinitesimal”, he assures. The bedbug has no “no point in staying on you or in your belongings to get home. She will instead want to stay in the seat she stole you from”, explains entomologist Léna Polin, known under the nickname Scarabête on YouTube, to Numerama. In the Paris metro, the RATP ensures that “the last days, no proven cases of bedbugs have been noted.” Enough to no longer want to scratch?