Bedbug infestations are climbing, late summer is when they are typically worst, and a research question that would have sounded far-fetched a decade ago is being taken seriously: whether the insects can pick up and pass along the antibiotic-resistant bacterium MRSA.
The honest answer today is that nobody knows. Bedbugs are not established disease vectors, and no study has shown them transmitting MRSA to a person. What exists is a laboratory experiment demonstrating that the mechanism is possible, which is a meaningful starting point and nothing more.
