JAW-DROPPING footage of a patient covered in swarms of bedbugs has caused uproar after a sickening video was leaked online.
The nightmare scenario took place in a nursing home for psychiatric patients in Szentgotthard, Vas County, Hungary, in which a mentally ill person lying on a bed was covered in the critters.
The video was leaked on social media by an unidentified person, before local news outlet Atlatszo exposed the institution further by sharing the footage to their webpage.
Only one patient in a single bed is on show for viewers to see but reportedly all of the beds are similarly affected by the infestation of bedbugs.
Atlatszo claimed that an undisclosed source from the facility, which opened in 1952, said the horrendous conditions haven’t changed since 2018.
The hospital provides 734 beds across two infected buildings, the largest in the country, but despite the efforts to solve the problem the bedbugs keep returning.
The informant said: “There are such small blows, but after two or three days the same situation arises”.
This is apparently because some of the eggs were missed, allowing them to later hatch and begin the process once more.
One nurse revealed that even when the beds were completely sterilised, and bedsheets changed, the bedbugs returned to the hospital within 30 minutes.
This was because they lacked the proper equipment to completely eradicate the critters and ensure they could not return.
The informant said: “It doesn’t matter what they do, because regardless of whether they put on a fresh sheet or a cover, after half an hour you look at it, and about 50-60 insects appear around it. Vacuuming and cleaning are in vain”.
Things became so bad for the patients that they even started a petition, yet they were neglected and no progress was made for a number of years.
Family members of the patients were unaware of their living conditions because they are only allowed to meet them in designated areas, such as outside spaces or in the reception area.
As a result, the scandal was allowed to go on for so long because no one else was able to witness the horrifying living conditions.
That is, however, until the recent footage emerged.
The institution has since responded and officials claim that nursing staff have done their best to eradicate the issue.
A statement written to Atlatszo read: “In order to eliminate the infection, both the institution and the maintainer will take the necessary measures.
“The visit of the beneficiaries is ensured according to the visiting order applicable to the institution”.
Shoppers have recently been warned that buying second-hand items could be the cause of bedbug infestations after cases had risen 65 per cent year-on-year.
A musty smell is also one of the telltale signs that the critters are in your vicinity, while there are five other signs to look out for when checking into a hotel room or visiting somewhere abroad.
