Pop a pill to battle bed bugs?

By HLNtv.com Staff

updated 6:09 AM EST, Thu November 15, 2012

NEED TO KNOW

Stromectol is commonly used to treat worm parasites
Scientists took the drug and let bed bugs feed on their blood
Within 3 hours bugs were dying

Would you feel better about bed bugs, if you knew they would die after biting you?

Researchers took a pill called Stromecol (also known as Ivermectin or Mectizan) and then let bed bugs bite them. Most of the bugs died within hours of their tainted "blood meals."

READ: New York no longer the bed bug capital

Could this be the beginning of the end of the bed bug wars? Lead researcher John Sheele tells Bloomberg the next step is to try it outside of the lab. “What I’d like to be able to do," he says, "is a real-world experiment where we find people who have bed bugs, treat them with the regimen and see does it get rid of their infestation.”

We have a feeling there will be plenty of volunteers!

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