Will 2021 be the year of bedbugs?
Known and hated by all, these little blood-sucking parasites are colonizing our homes more and more often.
However, it is difficult to quantify their presence precisely.
To be sure, the young Badbugs - "bad insects" in English - has launched a large study, the first of its kind so detailed on their spread for five years.
Her result, which she unveils exclusively, is edifying: more than 1.3 million people have been victims of bedbugs in Ile-de-France alone since 2016.
"This figure is monstrous, it means that one inhabitant in ten has been infested by bedbugs over the past five years," says Nicolas Roux de Bézieux, co-founder of Badbugs, a platform for making appointments to fight against the dirty beasts.
The Paris region is the most affected in France with 29% of people infected.
"
Last year, nearly 345,000 Ile-de-France residents had to fight against these insects, ie 85,000 more in five years.
The study, carried out by Ipsos on a sample of more than 12,000 people representing society (gender, age, region, CSP, etc.), was conducted online at the beginning of February.
It reveals that in total, 4.7 million French people (or 7%) have had to deal with these crawling insects since 2016 at a cost which is not insignificant: € 1,250 is spent on average to eliminate them.
Beware of moving
This scourge would even be underestimated.
“I was made aware of being a victim of bedbugs myself,” says Nicolas Roux de Bézieux.
I realized while talking about it that many of us were affected but we still talk about it very little out of shame or embarrassment, but everyone can be concerned from the moment we go out.
"
Hundreds of thousands of Ile-de-France residents deal with bedbugs every year, or more than 1.3 million people in five years.
The study shows that all professional categories are affected, regardless of their age, even if the 18-34 age group still predominates (52%).
This is logically explained.
“Travel (44%) and social interactions (30%) are the two main causes of the spread of bedbugs,” says the co-founder of Badbugs.
But also beware of moving, the third source of contamination (20% of infestations), just ahead of the second-hand market (10%).
"If you move, consider requesting new blankets from your professional, insists Nicolas Roux de Bézieux, and if you are a fan of second-hand online shopping, wash or put in the refrigerator for a week any recovered clothing and inspect the furniture. .
"
The worse is yet to come
"The bedbug, which had almost disappeared in the 1950s with the massive use of DDT, an insecticide now banned, is making a comeback", summarizes Stéphane Bras, spokesperson for the Chambre Syndicale des Métiers de la rat control, disinsection and disinfection (CS3D) which brings together nearly 80% of professionals.
According to its latest figures, the interventions of professionals jumped 76% in 2020, against an increase of around 30% between 2018 and 2019. “Their spread has been exponential for four years, and if there are fewer requests from hotels and restaurants, we are witnessing a postponement of infestations on residential housing ", notes the professional, increasingly called upon to" disinsect entire buildings rather than housing, which was still rare two years ago ".
And the worst is undoubtedly yet to come.
With the resumption of economic activity, one should expect an upsurge in bedbug infestations, according to experts.
"Since bedbugs are able to survive for up to eighteen months without eating, the infestations will start again as soon as we are again able to move around, take the plane, return to the hotel, to the office, to do second-hand goods… ”explains Nicolas Roux de Bézieux.
A government action plan by the summer?
Worried about the expansion of this scourge in full confinement, a group of 25 elected left from Ile-de-France is already alarmed.
In a column published in "Le Journal du Dimanche" at the end of February, he called on the government.
"Now is not the time for observation but for action", denounce the signatories who manage more than 120,000 social housing in the Paris region.
“The most insecure tenants cannot fight alone against these pests,” they stress, recalling that since the announcement in February 2020 of a government plan against bedbugs, “nothing has changed”.
READ ALSO>
A landlord from Essonne will have to compensate a family
Morning essentials newsletter
A tour of the news to start the day
Subscribe to the newsletterAll newsletters
"Bed bugs poison the lives of many French people," recognizes the Minister in charge of Housing, Emmanuelle Wargon.
We are determined to put in place an action plan to combat this phenomenon: we must both make everyone aware of the precautions to be taken and provide solutions to radically treat the contaminated places.
»Around four axes, this interministerial action plan would notably provide for the certification of training and the respect of good practices of professionals in the sector as well as financial support for the poorest households.
It should be presented by the summer.
5 questions for an expert
“All housing is concerned, even the cleanest,” underlines Romain Lasseur, doctor in animal toxicology, an international specialist in invasive animal species.
Dr. Lasseur has been following the biology of bedbugs for years.
/ DR
How do you explain the spread of bedbugs in recent years?
ROMAIN LASSEUR.
This blood-sucking insect has existed since the dawn of time.
It has been breaking through with us since the early 2000s with the proliferation of trips.
More than 1.2 million French people are bitten each year, against only a few hundred in 2000. It is very tough, it manages to survive without a blood meal for six to twelve months ... Understand that the female bug is only fertilized once in its life and keeps the male's sperm in a pocket, called a spermatheca, which it nourishes with our blood and which allows it to lay 10 to 15 eggs per day.
The infestation therefore happens very quickly, especially since 30% of people bitten do not even realize that they have been bitten because their skin does not react.
It is a real scourge that is still too underestimated today.
Do they have a predilection for degraded, dirty places?
Not at all.
Bed bugs have nothing to do with cockroaches and dirt-loving rats.
All dwellings are concerned, even the cleanest.
This is why their spread is a public health problem because all that matters to them is to eat, guided towards us by the heat that our bodies give off.
Is that why we are mostly stung in bed?
Yes.
They love bedrooms, bedding, sofas, but also movie theaters for two simple reasons.
First, they don't like light and most often work in the dark.
And they need time to feed, it sometimes takes up to twenty minutes per meal, per bite, it is long and therefore their victims must not move or very little.
Can they transmit diseases?
No, they don't transmit diseases like mosquitoes can.
Their impact is above all psychological.
How to get rid of it?
Several treatments exist: chemical, by steam or cryonics, by heat gun… Do not hesitate to call in professionals in the event of an infestation because two passages may be necessary at about ten days apart: the first for eliminate adults and larvae, the second to neutralize resistant eggs that have become larvae.
But professionals are not always well trained and / or some abuse prices.
I am campaigning in favor of training and labeling of the profession because still too few interveners fully master the life cycle of the insect, which results in inappropriate and ineffective treatments.