Abstract
IN his latest annual report Sir Alexander Macgregor, medical officer of health for Glasgow, states that the total number of houses in that city in which bed bugs were found in 1939 was 309, or 2.1 per cent, as compared with 3.1 per cent in 1938. In 79 houses, or 0.5 per cent only, a “trace” of bed bugs was found, as compared with 0.9 per cent in 1938. In this group only old hatched eggs were found, but no living bugs or eggs were detected in beds or furniture, pictures or household belongings. In 62 houses, or 0.4 per cent compared with 0.5 per cent in 1938, a medium degree of infestation was found, that is, living bugs or eggs were present, but not in the structure of the house itself. In 168 houses, or 1.2 per cent, a serious degree of infestation was found, living bugs or eggs being present not only in the beds or on furniture but also in the structure of the rooms such as picture rail, skirting and door facings. In the great majority of houses infestation was detected at a fairly early stage by the nurse inspectors. The progress made in the prevention of any infestation during the last six years is shown by a fall from 10.7 per cent in 1934 to 2.1 per cent in 1939 and by a fall of serious infestation from 7.1 to 1.2 per cent during the same period.
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Bug Infestation. Nature 148, 369–370 (1941). https://doi.org/10.1038/148369d0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/148369d0