Stink bugs, bed bugs, super bugs, *sigh*...

[erinreid]

Does anyone else feel like the microscopic world is starting... to win again? We've been battling all sorts of insects, viruses and bacteria for most of human history. And for most of human history, they've been the victors, causing untold misery, injury and death.

But most of us have grown up in a era where we just didn't have to think about these things. The advent of antibiotics seriously diminished the number of people who died of infections. DDT all but eliminated bedbugs as a scourge in North America. Crop protection methods have dramatically reduced crop lost due to a whole host of pests.

And now... a plague of stink bugs, with no natural predators, is wreaking havoc in the Mid-Atlantic especially.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/24/AR2010092403357.html

Bed bugs, as everyone knows, are experiencing a serious resurgence, with no known easy biological or chemical solutions. Some experts are suggesting that we might just be living with bedbugs... forever.

http://blog.seattlepi.com/davidhorsey/archives/220180.asp?from=blog_last3

Microscopic bugs, bacteria, are getting worse and worse, with a whole host of superbugs becoming resistant to all known antibiotics and spreading through hospitals.

http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/health/medical/2010-09-17-1Asuperbug17_ST_N.htm

Is it possible that the life that we've lived over the last fifty years was not a permanent improvement in our lifestyle, but rather an aberration?

Sorry to be a buzzkill! I'm just wondering if I'm the only person thinking about this.

- Erin

 

[OKW Lover]

You might be the only one. I know I've never thought of it - except when going to see "It's Tough to be a Bug" at AK.

 

[Allison]

No, I can't say that I feel that way.

 

[UrsulasShadow]

It's all part of living on this planet, Erin. If this makes you queasy, consider this:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/a...ns-carry-more-bacterial-cells-than-human-ones

 

[Becx N Gav]

I agree we have tried to control nature in this area and nature is fighing back!
Not that I don't sympathise with people affected by bugs of one type or another (I freaked out when I got head lice at age 18 from one of the Girl Guides I worked with) but they are part of the ecosystem and I think the best we can do long term is learn to live with them rather than banish them - hasn't really worked overall has it! I'm sure the ancient peoples were much more adept at controlling them or living with them - maybe more thought and research should be put into looking at old treatments, I would guess these would not cause the germs to mutate and build up resilience to our current drugs?
I would expect that it would still take a few decades for these new strains and old threats to take a serious hold again on westernised areas - so no big worries just yet

 

[Friendly Frog]

Well in 2012 it won't matter anyway, right?

 

[erinreid]

Well in 2012 it won't matter anyway, right?

Hah! I love it. Maybe it's what will bring about 2012! Not with a bang, or a whimper, but eaten by bugs...

Did anyone see the photo of the stink bugs on the NY Times article today? Tge woman's house was crawling with them!

http://mobile.nytimes.com/article?a=669696

 

[TinkerMouse]

I'm thinking about all the bugs because lately they've been all over the news. Very recently, one of my mom's co-workers rinsed the outside of his house with a power washer and then all of these stink bugs surfaced and decided to take over the place. Not "A Bug's Life" grasshopper style but a lot of them just started showing up all over the outside and inside of his house. It's frustrating! They're not even supposed to be here since they're from a completely different continent...

 

[FigmentKrazee]

I live in Maryland and we're definitely thinking about stinkbugs here! Oh my god, they are all over everything. I know they don't hurt anything but they certainly are icky. I'm almost fine if there's just one or two, but when there's about twenty of them crammed into a crevice, well, that is just beyond gross.

And the worst thing is that they have no predators and there's basically no way to get rid of them yet.