Bristol's bed bug hotspots shown on interactive map
Google stats show that there have been around 80,000 searches in the UK for the term 'bed bugs' in the last 30 days Two bed bug hotspots in Bristol have been identified following a surge in cases across the UK following an outbreak of bed bugs in France. The worst affected areas include Yatton and Stoke Gifford, with a search score of 43 for the term 'bed bugs. St Leonards-on-Sea in East Sussex, which is located 40 miles from the coast of France, was identified as the most affected by the insects. Google stats show that there have been around 80,000 searches in the UK for the word in the last 30 days, an increase of 287% compared to the previous month. The issue has worsened due to the insects developing resistance to insecticides. Experts advise avoiding bed bugs when visiting hotels and hospitals.
ที่ตีพิมพ์ : 2 ปีที่แล้ว โดย Rom Preston-Ellis, Tim Hanlon ใน Health
Two bed bug hotspots in the Bristol region have been identified after a massive surge in cases across the UK. Following an outbreak of bed bugs in France, many of the critters have seemingly made their way across the English Channel.
Many of the worst hit areas are in the South East but there are two places in the Bristol area where, according to a rise in Google searches, bed bugs are becoming increasingly rife. Yatton and Stoke Gifford currently have a search score of 43 for the term 'bed bugs'.
Across the whole of the UK, a Sussex seaside town standing 40 miles from the coast of France has been identified as the worst place affected by the insects.
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Residents of St Leonards-on-Sea generated a higher rate of Google searches for the term ‘bed bugs’ than any area in the country in the last 90 days - amid fears that an infestation in Paris could mean the blood-sucking insects are also taking a hold here.
Google stats show that there have been around 80,000 searches in the UK for the term ‘bed bugs’ in the last 30 days which is an increase of 287% compared to the previous month. Using figures posted by Google Trends, the Mirror has identified the areas of the country where residents are most concerned that they may have been infested.
St Leonards-on-Sea in East Sussex faces directly towards the Normandy coast and is also geographically among the closest towns in Britain to Paris, so it is perhaps understandable why it comes top of the list with people searching for bed bug on Google.
But Google also lists 148 other bedbug ‘hotspots’ with heightened levels of interest in the insects, and although roughly a third are in and around London and Kent, the others are spread right across the country. In the list is Havant in Hampshire, Halling in Kent, but also further north there is Lowton, near Wigan and Whickham in Tyne and Wear.
The reports from the French capital came as Paris Fashion Week got underway, raising concerns that the tiny insects could have been brought back by thousands of people from Britain who attend the event. David Cain, founder of pest control firm Bed Bugs Limited, said the bugs are now “out of control”. He added: “The problem is worse now than it’s been since probably the 1930s and 1940s”.
Dr Richard Naylor, director at the Bed Bug Foundation, said the problem has got worse as the insects have developed a resistance to insecticides. He said a good way of avoiding bed bugs is to keep “bags off the bed and away from the bed” when visiting hotels and hospitals.
*Google Trends ranks towns and cities using a normalised score between 0 and 100, based on the proportion of searches for ‘bed bugs’ over time compared to all other searches, rather than releasing the total number of searches for the term in each area. The tech giant says this is done to make comparisons between different sized communities more accurate.