Summary: Roaches and filth. Roaches and filth. Go together like, well, I don't know an adequate rhyme, but who cares? Cockroaches are yucky!
Cockroaches are always associated with filth. Why aren't our feelings about ants and spiders and beetles the same? Well, for one reason, cockroaches are known to carry Salmonella and E.coli bacterial pathogens and the other aforementioned little fellows don't.
Put a cockroach under a magnifying glass and you'll see they are covered with hairs and spines. All these things hanging off their bodies pick up bad stuff as they make their way through drains and sewers. If they have just emerged from one of these sewer lines and have somehow found their way into a kitchen. you've got instant contamination. We often hear about outbreaks of food borne diseases and many such outbreaks can be traced back to
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cockroach infestations.
The lowly cockroach also does a great job of irritating people with allergies. In fact, it is now commonly belived that people can have asthma from exposure to cockroaches. As cockroaches shed their outer skin during molting which occurs six to twelve times during their lifetime, the molted skin decomposes into tiny flakes. Air currents pick up the flakes and they float in the air around us. Eventually, with enough of these flakes in the air, we will breath them into our lungs. Put enough cockroaches in a room and you'll have an appreciable amount of cockroach stuff floating in the air you are breathing. People with allergies are quickly affected. This is an especially well known problem in low income housing where incidences of childhood asthma cases far exceed other socio-economic neighborhoods.
So, there is good reason to strive to live in a cockroach-free environment. Ignoring an existing cockroach population can bring exposure to unhealthy pathogens and potential respiratory problems.
Comments
Ms. MeMe
25 Oct 2008, 17:28
I saw my very 1st roach in 2 years. I live in an apartmnet complex so i'm
pretty sure that it wasn't because of my non cleaning skills that led it to
my house because i am very tidy. I had roaches before and I don't EVER want
them again! Should I call an exterminator or just wait and see if that was
the only one?
Ask the Exterminator
26 Oct 2008, 01:13
Put out some glue monitor traps in the area where you saw the cockroach.
Glue traps can be purchased at most home improvement stores and grocery
stores. Very inexpensive and effective. No need to call in the heavy
hitters unless you start to see more activity.
Rae
22 Aug 2009, 10:25
Approximately 3 weeks ago, my brother was moving from an apt he had found
to be infested with bugs...including roaches. He only asked that I keep one
thing at my house: his stand to an aquarium. He and a friend examined the
stand and it appeared to be bug free.2 days later, I saw a few little bugs
(about the size of flies) crawling on the stand. I sprayed it with
ant&roach spray, but they didn't seem phased by it. I finally dragged the
stand out of my basement & put outside a few days until they were able to
come & get it. Yesterday morning, I came into the kitchen and when I turned
on the light, and moved the coffee maker I saw what appeared to be the same
bug as on the stand, only 2-3 times bigger and fast. I was able to kill
it. It was dark brown, about 6 legs and appeared to have wings, only I am
being told that roaches in OH don't have wings. Also, others are telling me
I am probably just paranoid b/c I would have seen some sign of them
before...but I am not sure. I sprayed the baseboards with house&garden
spray and set out 8 Raid roach baits throughout the house. I haven't seen
any signs of them today. Do you think it was just random and will be
enough or is it an infestation?
brittany
01 Sep 2009, 14:51
I've been living in our apartment for 4 months now. I am an extremely clean
person and have NEVER came across a roach in my life! Recently we had an
exterminator come to the house because we started finding a lot of spiders.
Since he came no spiders but I'm finding several dead roaches laying around
the house (so the spray obviously worked) but I had no clue there were even
roaches in the house! My landlord said to just clean them up as I find
them but I don't want those things near me! Should I have another
exterminator to keep them away or what? I don't want to live somewhere
infested with roaches.. if I found a couple dead ones there's more right?
How do I totally get rid of them?
