According to research by the World Health Organization, in 18-20% of cases the source of the disease is insects. The first place in the list of infection carriers belongs to flies, and cockroaches are in second place.
Synanthropic Prussians are the most common and most numerous cohabitants of people. Their number and reproduction rate are influenced by social, climatic and sanitary conditions.
The appearance of most adults is characterized by the following features:
- flat, elongated body;
- small head and large jaw apparatus;
- three pairs of legs;
- a pair of eyes;
- color is brown, red or black.
Some species have wings folded on the dorsal part of the body.
The appearance of a red-haired Prussian in an apartment causes unpleasant emotions and significant discomfort associated with contamination of the house and spoilage of food. How else are cockroaches dangerous? It is the causative agent of many dangerous parasitic and infectious diseases and allergic reactions. Under certain circumstances it causes significant property damage. Black house cockroaches are known carriers of staphylococcal pathogens. Other species can become a source of tuberculosis bacillus, which passes unchanged through the digestive tract of the individual and does not lose its pathogenicity.
What are they carriers of?
The danger from cockroaches lies in the fact that they deftly know how to move around rooms and neighboring premises. The paths for this are not chosen: sewer pipes, basements and attics. Along the way, they pick up a lot of infections and microbes that stick to the chitinous coating and paws. This also includes helminth eggs, that is, worms.
They carry everything collected into people’s homes, where they walk freely on kitchen tables and come into contact with abandoned food and drinks in glasses. In this way, all the infection clings to a person.
Apart from external transfer, longhorned beetles are not particularly sterile from the inside. They are indiscriminate in their food, feeding on waste, human and animal excrement. Therefore, in their digestive system they have a whole breeding ground for pathogenic microorganisms.
According to research, mustachioed pests carry the following diseases:
- dysentery;
- gastroenteritis;
- urological infections;
- salmonellosis;
- tuberculosis
- meningitis;
- pneumonia;
- mycobacteriosis.
The following helminths can carry eggs on their limbs:
- whipworm;
- tapeworms;
- pinworm
The greatest harm is caused by specimens that entered the house from sewers, since it is unknown how long and in what they floundered. It’s scary to even imagine what kind of disgust they leave after running through food products.
Moving intensively around the living space, longhorned beetles leave the above listed not only on food, but on the walls and personal hygiene items in the bathroom.
Therefore, the risk of infection increases: touching familiar objects in the apartment and not washing hands. The person then does not even realize what caused the disease. If sanitary standards are not maintained in kindergartens and schools, children are at risk. Cockroach settlements in these places become the cause of infectious epidemics. Therefore, when parasites are detected, emergency measures are taken - they call SES employees for disinfestation.
Harm the nervous system, disrupt sleep
However, the danger of cockroaches lies not only in the spread of pathogenic microorganisms. Longhorned beetles crawling around the apartment cause irritation, disrupting the functioning of the nervous system.
A person falls asleep in fear, which contributes to the development of insomnia. Inadequate sleep causes poor health, decreased immunity and weakness. As a result, bacteria, germs and viruses can easily penetrate an unprotected body.
Children may develop a phobia, the official name of which is blattophobia. This is a serious mental illness that causes an inadequate reaction to cockroaches in an adult.
In people with blattophobia, attacks are accompanied by increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, redness in the face and increased sweating.
The patient may squeal loudly, climb up onto a chair with his feet, or scream in fear. Parasites come to them in dreams.
Drug treatment for this disease is not enough. You will need to go to see a psychotherapist for a long time, work on yourself, and rebuild your subconscious.
Can whiskered pests cause allergies?
Cockroaches are dangerous in terms of causing an allergic reaction in people. During their life, parasites leave chitinous shells (after molting) and hardened feces everywhere. This mixes with dust and when it gets into the lungs or onto the epidermis, it causes the development of a number of diseases:
- asthma;
- dermatitis;
- allergic rhinitis;
- conjunctivitis.
When faced systematically with an allergen in the home, a person develops a chronic allergy - the symptoms do not go away. Children are especially susceptible to this. Signs of an allergic reaction: sneezing, watery eyes, soreness and congestion in the nasopharynx, pain in the eyes.
Prolonged rhinitis threatens to develop into polyps in the nose, which leads to serious breathing problems. Asthma not only causes general malaise, but also significantly disrupts the usual way of life.
Black cockroaches constantly emit an unpleasant stench. If the accumulation is small, this is not so noticeable, but if the infection is severe, the stale smell lingers in the apartment constantly. No amount of ventilation can eliminate it. There is only one way to get rid of it - to completely poison the parasites and remove the remains that have accumulated in secluded places in the living space.
Can get into the ear, mouth, nose during sleep
Cockroaches are especially active at night. They come out of their secluded places when people are already sleeping. Sometimes parasites, in search of a reliable shelter, crawl into a child or adult’s ears, mouth, nose, causing severe pain.
The structure of the human ear has its own characteristics, and therefore it is not difficult for an insect to squeeze inside the ear, but it cannot get out on its own. By moving its legs and antennae, a cockroach can injure the ear canal and damage the ear membrane.
You can only pull out a Prussian with the help of special medical instruments, so you should consult a doctor at the slightest suspicion.
What else are harmful to cockroaches?
Whiskered insects actively spoil food. Scientists have found that the pest consumes up to 10 kg of dry food residues per year. At first glance, this is not much. Just besides this, how much food they render unusable. So, having noticed an unpleasant insect in a plate of salad, no one will continue to eat, since it is not clear where the cockroach wandered before. Consequently, the dish is spoiled and goes to waste. A similar situation occurs with other foods.
If the Prussians are permanent residents, then it is unknown what they have already managed to run through. This means that all food that is not cleared from the tables must be thrown away. Often left uncovered: fruits, sweets, bread and rolls. If at least one got into the refrigerator, then there is a high probability that he marked most of the food supplies.
Cockroaches are omnivorous creatures, so their food is not only crumbs and leftovers from the common table. In extreme situations, they do not mind profiting from insulation, glue and book binding. They are endowed with a gnawing mouthpart, so they can handle hard objects. Such tricks damage electrical appliances, leading to short circuits and even fires.
How not to get infected?
In general, in order to avoid becoming a victim of such a situation, you must adhere to certain rules. There is nothing complicated about them, and most importantly, they are really effective:
- before each use of food, it is necessary to thoroughly wash the dishes and cutlery (never forget that black domestic cockroaches and their red relatives can easily run over these items);
- close the garbage bag tightly so that no insects can get into it;
- After eating, never leave uneaten breakfast, lunch or dinner on the table, and also thoroughly wipe the table to remove any crumbs that have formed;
- Place all products in cabinets in special sealed containers.
Are they capable of attacking and biting?
Cockroaches are not endowed with predatory instincts, so humans are not of interest to them as prey. There is no direct harm from them. This is compared to bedbugs or mosquitoes, which feed on human blood.
But from time to time they are not averse to biting, which causes trouble:
- There have been cases where, in the absence of a water and food source, cockroaches ate the skin of the fingers and in the area of the nasolabial fold on a sleeping person. There are documented facts that sailors were forced to sleep with gloves to escape cockroach infestations at night. Insects also tend to eat the remaining crumbs on the lips and discharge in the eyes.
- Being dependent on water, without it cockroaches are able to absorb human saliva from the lips and gnaw the epithelium. Children are especially at risk in this regard. If pathogenic bacteria are present on the paws of such a visitor, then infection occurs.
- Domestic red Prussians can climb into the ear flap in an attempt to hide from danger. Having squeezed through the ear canal, they cannot get back out. As a result, moving and moving the mustache can injure the walls of the hearing aid and harm the ear membrane. It is problematic to remove them from there on your own, which forces you to seek medical help. At the medical facility, the unwanted resident is carefully removed with a special tool. It follows that cockroaches do not bite regularly and deliberately. They do this only in emergency situations, since food and water are always available in the apartments. Another reason for the attack is that the population has grown to incredible sizes and there is no longer enough food for everyone.
Arthropod bites have dangerous consequences. With their jaws, insects gnaw through soft tissue, leaving deep wounds on the eyelids, neck, cheeks, and ears. The marks take a long and painful time to heal due to infection. A secondary infection may occur, which penetrates through the saliva of the Prussians. There is a substance in saliva that causes side effects - the affected areas become red, itchy and painful.
Dermatitis on the skin develops from the following types of cockroaches: red, black, American. All of them are frequent guests in human homes. American and Egyptian arthropods, biting off particles of epithelium, contribute to the development of erosions and papulovesicles (rashes), accompanied by an unbearable burning sensation. Later they become covered with purulent discharge.
Damage to electrical appliances
Cockroaches love to bask inside household electrical appliances. They especially love tube TVs and radios. Nowadays, such devices are gradually being phased out. If they are not thrown away, then they are stored only as rarities. But just 25-30 years ago, tube TVs were at a premium. A TV breakdown was considered a real disaster. And often its cause was cockroaches that “shorted” the signal. Nowadays, “mustached” ones can also cause a short circuit. Their jaws are strong enough to chew through the insulation of electrical wiring. Modern standards of European renovation are to the taste of cockroaches - almost all wires and communications are hidden from view. The spaces under the decorative panels are dark, warm and safe. An ideal habitat for a cockroach!
Harm from poisoned parasites
Even poisoned insects pose a certain danger - after disinfestation has been carried out in a residential area using pesticides. Such specimens can harm pets: cats, dogs, birds. They playfully catch them and eat them, which leads to severe intoxication.
Most progressive insecticides have a prolonged spectrum of action, so they do not kill longhorned beetles instantly. For some time they still move, although slowed down. So the still living cockroach holds a poisonous bomb within itself.
Cats are more sensitive to insecticides, especially pyrethroids. The first symptom of poisoning will be the appearance of drooling. The animal behaves inappropriately.
Therefore, during sanitization and for the next 1-2 days, it is recommended to remove not only people, but also animals from the living space. Bullying can also have a negative impact on the person doing the pest control. To prevent such an outcome, thoroughly study the instructions for using the insecticide and follow safety precautions. Wear a respirator when working.| Read about effective cockroach repellents...
In reality, few people are careful, so cases of poisoning do occur. Often everything is limited to a slight malaise: dizziness, nausea, migraine.
Bites
It is rare, but it happens that cockroaches bite a person. Prussians have a fairly developed oral apparatus, thanks to which they not only gnaw the surface of the epidermis, but also gnaw the neck, fingers, cheeks and eyelids. The presence of infection significantly slows down the healing of wounds.
Scientists are inclined to believe that cockroaches bite due to lack of water. For this reason, they compensate for the lack of water by licking tear fluid, saliva and sweat secretions from a sleeping person.
Also, parasite bites are caused by a sharp increase in their numbers. There is not enough food for a huge population of insects in the limited space of an apartment.
Cockroach saliva contains a protein that causes allergic reactions. As a result, the skin in the area of insect bites may develop rashes and become red. The site of the bite may feel itchy and painful.
Double tails / Diplura
And although this insect does not belong to the cockroach order, the editors of most-beauty decided to add it to our list because of its interesting features. In damp places you can find an unusual species of arthropods, commonly called earwigs. They have a terrifying appearance.
Adults grow up to 6 cm in length, and at the back they have long cerci, like pitchforks. It is they who give the creature a terrifying appearance. On the head, like everyone else, there are long mustaches and powerful biting mandibles.
They are not dangerous to humans, but only bite painfully for protection purposes. But, settling in a house, they can become carriers of diseases and infections. Sometimes they are afraid that they can crawl into the ear, but this happens quite rarely.
Summarize
So we found out what the most dangerous cockroaches in the world are. These insects settled throughout the planet, and even traveled to Antarctica on ships, settling at scientific stations. The ancient and closest relatives of cockroaches are mantises and termites. Cockroaches cause a lot of trouble in the house and, as we have learned, are quite dangerous. Therefore, when they appear, it is necessary to do everything to eliminate them, independently or with the help of specialists. The website TopCafe.su has a very interesting article about the most effective methods of fighting cockroaches.
If you have something to add to our list, write about it in the comments.
Fighting methods
Start the fight at the first sign of infection in the apartment. You should be wary when you see small dark pellets, reminiscent of poppy seeds, scattered across the kitchen furniture. They are cockroach excrement. The overgrown population causes an unpleasant odor and ceases to hide, appearing to the eyes of the inhabitants of the apartment not only at night, but also during the day.
To kill pests, buy insecticidal preparations at a hardware store. Good results are provided by:
- Dichlorvos;
- Raid;
- Clean house;
- chalk Mashenka;
- Global;
- Super Fas powder;
- Dohlox.
Use products according to instructions. Be sure to wear gloves on your hands, cover your respiratory organs with a respirator, and your eyes with goggles.
As auxiliary measures, use special traps, smoke bombs and folk methods. Boil an egg, mash the yolk and mix with a teaspoon of boric acid. Roll into balls and place edible bait in the corners of the rooms.
Are all species dangerous?
Today there are many varieties of cockroaches. Some of them pose a danger to human health, and some are practically harmless insects. The threat to humans comes from red, black and American cockroaches.
The most common parasites are red in color; they pose a great danger to people. These insects reach a length of up to one and a half centimeters, their wings exceed the body parameters in size.
The red-haired parasite has long mustaches, which are needed to communicate with its fellows and navigate in space. A cockroach cannot live without its whiskers.
Black cockroaches that settle in homes also pose a danger to people. Their length can vary from 2 to 5 centimeters. The body is black or dark gray in color and has a noticeable metallic sheen.
The wing size of females is slightly smaller than that of males. Moreover, the body of females is larger and can reach 5 centimeters.
The American cockroach is similar to the red cockroach; their body is larger - approximately 5 centimeters. Females are slightly larger than males. A distinctive feature of this type of longhorned beetle is the horizontally located dark brown stripes on the back.
This sign helps to distinguish dangerous insects if a person is overcome by doubts about their safety.
Spread of an unpleasant odor
Black cockroaches have a pungent and unpleasant odor. They smell rotten and damp. If there are not very many longhorned beetles, then a slightly noticeable odor emanates from them. However, if the number of insects is large, then unpleasant odors spread in the apartment, which are very difficult to get rid of.
There is only one way out here - either self-disinfestation of the premises, or calling the appropriate specialists.
Is there a danger after disinfestation?
Some substances do not kill cockroaches immediately. They poison the insect, making it toxic. Returning to the nest, the individual infects its relatives and soon the entire colony dies.
Under the influence of poison, pests lose orientation in space, cease to be afraid of people and crawl chaotically around the apartment during the day. In this state, they can easily fall onto a person from the wall and scurry into a person’s ear in panic.
When using edible baits, be careful not to allow small children or pets to try them.
