A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Bed Bug Infestation (Cimex lectularius) as a Public Health Insect in Iran (1995 – 2019)

The common bed bug (Cimex lectularius) is a small hematophagous and wingless insect of the order of Hemiptera and the Cimex genus. This insect is mainly nocturnal and feeds specifically on humans.

This systematic review reflects the distribution of the bed bug and this is a hypothesis about the relationship between the mean of humidity and temperature with the bed bug infestation that the meta-analysis evaluates.
Data Sources: Various electronic databases were investigated for choosing reliable research by suitable keywords during 1995 to 2019. Relevant studies were accepted regarding to the inclusion criteria. Cochrane Q and I2 statistics were used to evaluate heterogeneity and inconsistency. Small study effects were assessed by Egger’s regression test. Statistical analysis was performed using STATA12 software.

Four researches were entered in this review based on inclusion criteria. According to previous studies, the prevalence of bed bug infestation was reported to be from 2.8% to 90.1% in Iran. Despite of an extensive range of insect infestation, only the reports of the bed bug distribution were published in the Kohgiluye-and-Buyer Ahmad, Esfahan and Mazandaran provinces. The weighted mean of prevalence of common bed bug infestation was obtained using random effects method. The summary estimate of the prevalence was 0.28 [95% CI: (-0.01 - 0.71)].

The current study showed that the prevalence of the common bed bug is mainly focused on the southern, south-western and northern provinces of Iran. Moreover, the bed bug can be called a neglected urban pest, which needs further investigation to know its distribution in the country