A bedbug infection or infestation can be difficult to treat on one’s own and can take weeks to months.

Bed bugs are one of the great travellers of the world and are readily transported via luggage, clothing, bedding and furniture. In many cases, people carry bed bugs from place to place, often without realizing.

A person may notice itchy welts on their skin if they sleep in a bed with bedbugs. Bedbugs are small, but a person may notice them if they inspect the folds of mattresses and bedding.

Bedbugs do not usually hide on the human body. Instead, they tend to hide in the piping or folds of mattresses, in the creases of bedding, and in the cracks of the bed. They will usually only be on the body when feeding.

To get rid of bed bugs, act at the first signs of infestation and use an integrated pest management approach involving prevention and sanitation.

Bedbugs are often tough to get rid of, so one may need a few different approaches. Once you identify and contain all infested areas, you can combine chemical and non-chemical treatments to kill the bugs.

Here are ways to eliminate bedbugs:

*Seal any small hiding areas. This eliminates hiding places and gets the bugs out into the open.

*Remove infested items. Place them in a sealed plastic bag and treat them.

*Items that cannot be treated should be placed in a sealed plastic bag or storage container and left there for a long time to ensure any active bugs are dead.

*Purchase protective covers that seal mattresses and box springs. With covers that seal, the bed bugs will get trapped inside and die.

*Vacuum after each use. Seal the bag as tightly as possible and immediately throw it out in an outdoor trash container.

*Discard furniture responsibly if you can’t safely eliminate the bed bugs. Destroy it so someone else won’t be tempted to bring it into their home.

*Consider non-chemical methods of killing bed bugs. Some will be more useful than others depending on your situation. These and other methods can be helpful, but they might not get rid of the infestation entirely:

*Heat treatment: You can use a clothes dryer on high heat. You can also use black plastic bags in a hot, closed car in the sun, but success depends on your climate and other factors. Do-it-yourself heat treatments might not work. Professionals have access to more intensive and proven methods that can even treat whole houses with heat. Do not try to kill bed bugs by increasing your indoor temperature with a thermostat, propane space heater, or fireplace – this does not work and is dangerous.

*Cold treatment may work, but can only be successful in the home environment if the freezer is set to 0o F.  Many home refrigerator freezers are not cold enough  to kill bed bugs. You must leave the items in a sealed bag in the freezer at 0o for three days. Always use a thermometer to check the temperature, since home freezers are not always set to 0o.

Meanwhile, some chemicals or strong insecticides are good options to eliminate bedbugs. However, these can be hazardous if a person uses them indoors.

Mint leaves

Mint leaves are natural repellents to insects and most insects hate the smell of this plant and bed bugs are no exception. You can use mint leaves to prevent bed bugs from entering your homes.

All you need to do is crush some mint leaves into smaller pieces and sprinkle around the sleeping area or inside the cradleboard of small children. You can also put dried mint leaves packet between your linen closets and mattress. The mint leaf will dry up the bed bugs in no time. Repeat this exercise every 3-5 days for best results.

Baking soda

Baking soda also is a wonderful response to the issue of how to get rid of bed bugs. Baking soda works very effectively in killing the bedbugs even before you know it.

It sucks the moisture present on these tiny parasites and this eventually causes their death. You will need half bowl of baking soda and a vacuum.

Put the soda at all the places affected with the bugs and vacuum all the soda after three days. Repeat the process and your home will be free of bed bugs in no time.

You should see your doctor if you have:

Many bites

Blisters

Skin infection (bites feel tender or ooze discharge, such as pus)

An allergic skin reaction (skin red and swollen or hives)

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) says Lassa fever has claimed 138 lives between January and now with a 19.3 per cent case fatality rate.

This was according to the NCDC latest situation report shared via its official website.

The report said the figure was a rise from the 18.0 per cent recorded within the same period in 2024.

The reports also said that a total of 717 confirmed cases had been recorded as of Epi Week 18, with four new states (Ondo, Edo, Bauchi, and Benue) reporting cases in the current week alone.

The public health agency said that while the number of new confirmed cases slightly decreased from 11 to 10 in the past week, the overall death toll remained alarming.

The report noted that 71 per cent of all confirmed cases originated from three states Ondo, 30 per cent, Bauchi, 25 per cent and Taraba, 16 per cent signaling persistent hotspots in spite of nationwide interventions.

It added that the most affected age group was 21–30 years, with the male gender appearing slightly more affected than the female with a male-to-female ratio of 1:0.8.

The agency, however, said that no healthcare worker was infected in the current week, though 22 healthcare workers have been affected so far this year.

The report disclosed that the NCDC had activated a multi-partner, multi-sectoral Incident Management System and deployed 10 Rapid Response Teams across affected states.

It said that the agency had also intensified contact tracing, community sensitisation, and distributed essential commodities like PPES, Ribavirin, body bags, and disinfectants.

This it said is in collaboration with international partners such as the WHO, MSF, CEPI, and Georgetown University.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the country has conducted multiple webinars, capacity-building trainings, and surveillance activities to combat the outbreak.

However, the public health agency described that challenges to the responses were hampered by late presentation of cases, poor health-seeking behaviour, and low awareness levels in high-burden areas.

It also said that poor environmental sanitation contributed to disease spread.

The agency continues to urge Nigerians to maintain hygiene, report symptoms early, and avoid contact with rodents and their secretions.

”The public is also encouraged to follow NCDC advisories and utilise the toll-free line 6232 for inquiries,” it said.

The NAN reports that Lassa fever is a viral hemorrhagic disease transmitted primarily through contact with the urine or faeces of infected rats.

It can also spread from person to person through bodily fluids, contaminated objects, or infected medical equipment.

Symptoms include fever, sore throat, headache, vomiting, muscle pain, and in severe cases, bleeding from body openings.

By Francesca Hangeior

Maternal health experts have advised pregnant women with non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and sickle cell disorder to register for antenatal care in teaching hospitals where they can get specialist care.

The gynaecologists noted that pregnancy among women with these health conditions was associated with high risk, especially during delivery, and therefore should be managed where there are specialists to avoid losing the baby or the mother or both.

The experts reiterated that pregnant women with those conditions needed to use tertiary hospitals for their ANC to reduce complications during and after birth.

A Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Teaching Hospital, Akwa, Anambra State, Dr. Stanley Egbogu, said pregnancy among women with co-morbidities comes with concern and lots of complications.

Egbogu said, “Women who have diseases like hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease before pregnancy must not use primary health centers for their antenatal care.

” It is important they register in a teaching or specialist hospital for their antenatal care because they need specialized care by experienced obstetricians and gynaecologists.

“If such women should visit PHCs for antenatal care, they should be referred to a teaching hospital immediately because they are prone to so many complications during pregnancy.”

The gynaecologist noted that people with hypertension could convulse during pregnancy.

“Those who have diabetes can have renal failure during pregnancy and delivery.

Those who have sickle cell disease can have anemia, and their blood can be so low that many of them have issues during delivery. For those who are asthmatic, pregnancy can worsen the asthmatic condition, and some of the drugs they use can affect the baby if not monitored.

“So, these women need specialised care and that cannot be offered at the primary healthcare level. The truth is that if those complications are not effectively managed, they could lead to the death of the woman or her baby”, he said.

Egbogu also advised the women to start antenatal care early and be regular at the antenatal clinic because “we want to see those that have problems more often than those that do not have problems.”

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says a woman with sickle cell disease is more likely to have problems during pregnancy that can affect her health and the health of the unborn baby than a woman without the disease.

During pregnancy, the disease can become more severe, and pain episodes can occur more often. A pregnant woman with SCD is at a higher risk of preterm labor, having a low birth weight baby, or other complications. However, with early prenatal care and careful monitoring throughout pregnancy, a woman with SCD can have a healthy pregnancy”, the CDC said.

According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, about 30 percent of all women with asthma report their asthma worsened while pregnant.

The foundation notes “Pregnant women with asthma may have a bit greater risk of delivering early. Or the infant may have a low birth weight. High blood pressure and a related condition known as pre-eclampsia are also more common in pregnant women with more severe asthma.”

Another maternal health expert and a Senior Registrar in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano State, Dr. Mahmoud Magashi, says it is better and safer for pregnant women with co-morbidities to deliver in a specialist hospital to effectively manage associated risks both during and after delivery.

According to the World Health Organisation, in 2015, Nigeria’s estimated maternal mortality ratio was over 800 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, with approximately 58,000 maternal deaths during that year.

But the Demographic and Health Survey 2018 showed that Nigeria’s latest maternal mortality ratio is 512 per 100,000 live births, which experts say is still very high.