"Snap on the lights at Janet Brown's North Philadelphia house and see the roaches scatter."

"Though they run like a retreating army, they're rarely beaten, living well in walls and small spaces, often moving easily from one home to the next in low-income neighborhoods with endless blocks of aging rowhouses.

For Brown and her son, Ronnie, 11, exposure to roaches means asthma."

Alfred Lubrano reports for the Philadelphia Inquirer May 27, 2013. [2]