this post was submitted on 01 Oct 2023
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[–] [email protected] 58 points 11 months ago (1 children)

You know how in Plague Inc you can spread your disease via the Olympics?

I’m quite worried that will happen with bed bugs. We nearly eradicated them and have had decades of relative peace, but they’re having a hell of a resurgence. I genuinely fear a world where they become as widespread as they used to be.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Time to bring out the big gun (DDT) /s

[–] [email protected] 15 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I don't know about DDT, but if you've ever had bedbugs, they absolutely dominate every aspect of your life and are nearly impossible to get rid of. I care about the environment, but I would rather hurt the environment a bit than let bedbugs continue to spread. They are an enemy of humanity.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago

Yeah I unironically hold this stance. My original comment is usually followed by a brief rant about how we (as a species) almost did it but banned DDT a little too early. Might be a dumb take but I feel very strongly about bed bugs.

I suspect part of it is cynicism about climate change now, where things are so bad that it feels like using DDT for a few more years wouldn’t have hurt that much. I’m not versed enough about the effects on human health, but there is truly a level of increased health risk I would accept to exterminate bed bugs. They are a blight upon humanity and a return en massé would probably cause ecological/health damage of its own.

Plus high density housing is much more appealing if you can’t get a neighbor’s bed bugs or German roaches. That’s a massive and unavoidable downside to shared buildings. I am thankful to have avoided them so far but the likelihood only grows.