From roaches to rats, lots of unwanted intruders can lurk in the cracks and crevices of your Singapore home. Spotting a random pest in your space can make you uncomfortable and even scare you. While most people agree that pests do cause a general nuisance, they do not acknowledge the other dangers of sharing a space with these creepy crawlies. Yes, several hazards can be associated with having pests in your house.
In this article, you can read about some of the most common disadvantages of pest infestations. Not only can these tiny invaders pose a threat to your belongings, but they can also trigger various health conditions.
Dangers of Having Pests in Your Homes
Property Damage by Pests
First things first, the most visible consequences of pest infestation are the pest-inflicted damages to your property.
Structural Damage
The most alarming property damage caused by pests is structural damage. For instance, termites can cause severe structural damage.
In addition to nibbling on your flooring, carpeting, and ceilings, termites can compromise the structural integrity of your building by building tunnels through the foundation. As a result, the house could become so weak that the floors and ceilings would collapse. Pests like rats can also chew on wires and cause unexplained disconnections.
Contamination of Food, Water, and Surfaces
It is known to all that pests carry germs – none of which you would want in your home. Unfortunately, pests tend to scatter germs all over your house when scampering around. What’s worse, when pests feast on your unattended food, they contaminate it too. For example, lizards and cockroaches can spread germs on fruits and snacks they crawl over. Your water is not safe from pest contamination either! Drinking pest-contaminated water can lead to a hoard of health concerns.
Damage to Personal Belongings
Your personal belongings are also at risk when you are sharing the house with notorious pests. Pests like rats, cockroaches, and bed bugs can attack your bedding, clothing, accessories, etc. While this can be an expensive problem, it is also very emotionally distressing.
Health Risks Caused by Pest Exposure
Even though property damage is often highlighted as the primary concern associated with pest infestations, there is more. Pests can also wreak havoc on your physical and mental well-being.
Painful Stings and Bites
Most pests either bite or sting. Few of them will bite without any cue, and most pests will only do so when they feel threatened. No matter why a pest bites, stings and bites by different pests can be harmful. Not to mention, pest bites are often uncomfortable and painful.
The most common pests that bite are mosquitoes, bed bugs, wasps, and spiders. If you thought these bites were just a nuisance, think again. Every year, pest bites and stings lead to thousands of hospitalisations.
Allergic Reactions
Pest allergy is a real issue. Many people get allergic reactions simply by being near a pest. However, the reactions are usually more severe when an individual is actually stung or bitten by a pest.
For example, bed bugs do not pass any diseases to humans. However, when they bite and feed on blood, the affected person can break out in a rash if he is allergic to the pest.
Symptoms of pest allergy include breathing difficulty, swelling, and itching. Depending on how allergic an individual is, these symptoms can vary in terms of severity. What’s worse, scratching or not treating these bite marks correctly can lead to infections.
Transmission of Diseases
From dengue to hantavirus to leptospirosis, pests such as rodents and mosquitoes are guilty of spreading a plethora of diseases. These diseases are usually transmitted to humans through contaminated surfaces and pest bites. Other ways pests spread diseases are through their faeces, urine, and shed fur or skin.
Many of these tiny intruders are culpable, but rodents are especially notorious. Rodents will dribble urine all over your home whenever they leave their hiding spot.
This is rather alarming as rodents alone can spread 35 different diseases, including Lyme disease, salmonella, meningitis, and leptospirosis. In addition, many pest-transmitted diseases can have severe consequences, such as fever, respiratory problems, brain swelling, liver failure, and even death.
Respiratory Problems
Some pests, such as cockroaches, can trigger your pre-existing health conditions. For instance, cockroach droppings and remains release allergens that irritate the airways and cause respiratory difficulties.
Serious allergic reactions could even lead to life-threatening asthma attacks. Rodents, too, are known for causing severe health hazards to those suffering from asthma and allergy.
Long-term exposure to these pests could be harmful to your lungs. Even if you do not have pre-existing breathing problems, you could develop respiratory issues over a period of time if you are regularly exposed to pests like cockroaches and rodents.
Impact on Mental Health
Finally, pests can have a severe impact on your mental health too. Even though this is a definite consequence of pest problems that are often overlooked, it is a serious consequence of having pests in your house. For example, individuals can suffer from anxiety and insomnia for several months after dealing with a bed bug infestation.
Additionally, individuals feel a lot of stress when they first discover that they live with a big family of pests and do not yet know the remedy for the pest problem. The stress increases tenfold when one finds any pest he has a phobia of. Such situations could lead to post-traumatic stress disorder even after the pest problem is tackled.
Conclusion
The effects of pest infestations can pose serious dangers not only to your property and belongings but also to your health. For example, common pests in Singapore could put the foundation of your house at risk and damage your valuable personal items.
Indeed, this could lead to a lot of financial damage. That’s not all. Pest infestations can also wreak havoc on your physical and mental well-being.
Pests expose you to a wide range of diseases and can trigger pre-existing health conditions such as asthma and allergy.
As if that was not enough, identifying a pest population, devising a plan to combat the infestation, and eliminating the pest can all also cause a lot of stress. The best way to avoid all this is to take preventive measures and never allow pests to thrive in your home. And to do that, you should get pest control done regularly. Rely on a pest control company that uses Integrated Pest Management (IPM) methods to ensure you are not harming your family and the environment in the process of keeping pests away.
