The Benefit of a Single Oral Dose of Ivermectin in Humans: The Adverse Effects on Cimex lectularius L. Populations and Fecundity

Objective To measure the population size and fecundity of the common bed bug Cimex lectularius L. (C. lectularius) after feeding it with the blood obtained from human subjects who have consumed a single dose of ivermectin. Methods Serial blood samples were obtained from two human subjects at hour 0 (control) and 4-96 hours after they received a single 0.2 mg/kg dose of ivermectin. The blood samples were then fed to 2,273 bed bugs. Bed bug incapacitation rates, fecundity, and population sizes were recorded over a 54-day period. Whole blood ivermectin levels were measured in the human subjects and the insects. Results The fold change in the size of the control group population over the course of the experiment was found to be 2.16. This was significantly greater (p: <.001) than for all the post-ivermectin feeding groups (range: -11.04-1.43). Two weeks after the experiment, the number of eggs laid per live adult female bed bug per day was 10.74 for controls, which was significantly different (p: <0.001) compared to all the post-ivermectin feeding groups (range: 0-4.28). Conclusions There were significant reductions in C. lectularius population size and fecundity in insects that fed on blood obtained from human study subjects up to 96 hours after they have consumed a single oral dose of ivermectin.