6 Ways Cockroaches Can Harm Your Health

Apart from causing annoyance and embarrassment, cockroaches can also harm your health in a number of ways.

If there is one insect that almost every person on the face of this earth hates it’s a cockroach. This unpleasant guests that keeps barging into our homes uninvited has been calling earth its home for many years. They also enjoy the reputation of being the only creatures capable of surviving a nuclear explosion.

Cockroaches can survive anywhere from caves, to sewer pipes, to plush skyscrapers. No wonder roach exterminators in NYC are much sought after people. It may seem impossible for anyone to get rid of these bugs on their own, because roaches can hide themselves in pipe holes, garbage bins, or under the furniture, and they hardly ever come out during the daylight. They typically invade your kitchen and food items only when it’s dark.

Apart from causing annoyance and social embarrassment, these cockroaches can also harm your health in a number of ways. From food poisoning, to diarrhea, and a host of other illnesses, there are far too many diseases that cockroaches can spread. Here are some ways in which roaches can harm your health.

Cockroach Bites

Not all cockroaches bite, but there are certain species that bite humans. Although cockroaches typically do not bite living humans, in homes that are heavily infested with cockroaches, homeowners may get bitten on their toes, nails and other soft parts of skin.

Food Contamination

Cockroaches can thrive by eating practically anything they can find. From our food, to plants, and garbage and more, they can eat anything. Then they contaminate our food by leaving behind their dead skin, defecating on it, and depositing egg shells on it.

There is scientific evidence available to show that cockroaches can play a role in food poisoning. It carries the bacterium salmonella, which is responsible for spreading serious illnesses such as food poisoning and typhoid.

Allergies and Asthma

These reddish-brown insects can also cause allergies by secreting their saliva on various body parts. The person who suffers an allergic reaction may get skin rashes, watery eyes, and sneezing. Households that have asthmatic people should remain particularly wary of cockroaches as they can trigger serious complications.

Inoculation of Disease Causing Bacteria

Cockroaches can inoculate your food with bacteria and other germs residing in their gut by regurgitating their digestive fluids and saliva from their mouth. Bacteria from the gut of cockroaches can cause several diseases such as digestive problems, sepsis, and urinary tract infections.

Invasion of Human Body Parts

It may sound gross, but roach exterminators in NYC have come across cases where cockroaches have invaded the ears, nose, and other orifices of people while they were in asleep.