Are bedbugs the new cockroaches?

I'm working on this scarf for my brother using some Bernat from my stash. I had to make something for him especially when he contacted me after I sent him a handknit hat for Christmas. He told me (via email) that he could use some cold weather coverings because his apartment had become infested with bedbugs and he had to throw a lot of things away.
Bedbugs seems like such an archaic thing, so Mother Goose or something (Sleep tight! Don't let the bedbugs bite!), but apparently they are becoming even more common than before.
So I posit that bedbugs are the new cockroaches.
I found this article from Harvard discussing bedbugs.
And you may remember that Maya Rudolph (of SNL) had to flee her NYC apartment because of bedbugs.
They're not pretty.
I can't imagine crawling into bed with anything so hideous (that's what she said).
They remind me of ticks and I hate ticks.
So this is not charity knitting, just helping a brother out because winter in Beantown can be mighty chilly.
Cheers mate.