Getty Images
+Environmental Health | December 7, 2011

Key to Bed Bugs’ Persistence: Inbreeding

By Alice Park

If bed bugs seem to be everywhere, it’s probably because they are. Some bug watchers have estimated that populations of the tiny, blood-sucking mattress-dwellers have jumped by as much as 500% in recent years, and a 2010 survey found that 95% of exterminators in the U.S. had reported taking care of at least one bed bug infestation in the past year.

+Environmental Health | September 23, 2011

With Bed Bugs, the Cure May Be Worse Than the Disease

By Meredith Melnick
Getty Images

Bloodsucking bed bugs have made a comeback in recent years. But as victims of infestation have become increasingly desperate to rid their homes of the bedeviling pests, many have only done themselves more harm.

+Infectious Disease | May 12, 2011

Thought Bedbugs Were Bad? Try Bedbugs With MRSA

By Meredith Melnick
Getty Images

(Updated) The one bright side to having bedbugs — if you wanted to be optimistic about it — has always been that at least the tormenting critters didn’t transmit disease. But now researchers in Vancouver report that they’ve found bedbugs with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA.

+Photos Public Health | March 3, 2011

5 Ways to Survive Plane Travel Unscathed

By Meredith Melnick
Jason Hetherington via Getty Images

Between bed bugs, flu viruses and the risk of pulmonary embolism, taking a flight can feel like navigating a minefield. The good news is, there are lots of ways to keep yourself healthy.

+Public Health | September 27, 2010

Home Turf War: Stinkbugs Are Closing in on Bedbugs’ Territory

By Meredith Melnick
David Wrobel/Visuals Unlimited/Corbis

Bedbugs are so five minutes ago. There’s a new intruder infesting the Middle Atlantic states: the stinkbug.

+Environmental Health | August 31, 2010

Itchy Bites: The Least of the Bed Bug Epidemic’s Threats

By Meredith Melnick
Oxford Scientific/Getty

The bed bug — the reviled, bloodsucking ectoparasite (Cimex lectularius) that feeds silently on human beings during the night — has made a thunderous comeback in the U.S., everywhere from New York City to Cincinnati to Denver.