As the battle against the resurgence of the bed bug continues, the importance of detecting and treating the problem early cannot b...
Case Studies
Next time someone tells you "don't let the bed bugs bite" you might want to heed the warning. These blood-sucking critters are making a comeback in areas across the UK because of increased international travel and a ban on chemicals used to kill the bugs.
Local pest control companies say business for exterminating bed bugs is booming. "Within the last five years, it's gone from one or two calls a year to last week alone we did 15 bed bug treatments," explained Steve Anderson of SDA Pest Control in Cambridgeshire.
SDA Pest Control have treated hundreds of hotels, apartment complexes and even single-family homes in St. Neots, Huntingdon and Peterborough over the past year or so.
The biggest hotspots are the hotels. When people check in to hotels, they throw luggage on the bed or near the dresser, and then the bed bugs crawl into the luggage and hide. When it's time check out, the bugs go, too.
Training and prevention tips are what's required to combat the bed bug invasion.
The bed bug is reddish-brown in colour, small and flat. They are between the size of a tomato seed and apple seed. And although bed bugs are mostly known for their attachment to beds and box springs, there are other types of bed bugs that feed on bats and birds. A young bed bug looks exactly like its adult counterpart, unlike a butterfly with a larvae stage.
When travelling, the first thing you should do is pull back the sheets to look for the tell-tell blood stains, which are the bed bugs' fecal matter.
Sometimes when people see the blood they think they've cut themselves. The first thing they do is look for a scab. Those bites usually are the first signs. Most people don't even notice they have bed bugs until they've been bitten.
The bites are small. Those who aren't allergic usually believe it to be a flea or spider bite. People who are allergic are the ones who really notice the bites because of the blistering. The skin will actually form a blister between a 5p and a 1p in size.
The Health and Safety Executive stopped the use of many of the materials and chemicals used to get rid of bed bugs. Even as late as eight years ago, many of the chemicals used to treat mattresses and boxsprings have been pulled off the market. And pesticides such as DDT, which was banned 1960s, helped to really eradicate the bed bug population.
To eliminate bed bugs today, a three-part treatment is required. The first day is inspecting the infestation and also treating the room. Your pest control company will then return twice more, looking to see if there are any more bed bugs and continuing treatment. Usually, by the third visit the bugs have been booted from the bed.
There are other methods such as steam, chronogenetic and heat treatment, both of which SDA Pest Control doesn't do.
There is an embarrassment about having bed bugs, yet the thought that bed bugs are only found in dirty places is a misnomer. Five star hotels are just as likely to be infested as a YHA hostel. Education is important: bed bugs don't necessarily mean dirty homes.
Making sure to repair wallpaper that's loose and the carpeting that's pulling up are just two things that can make sure bed bugs don't have a home. Vacuuming and inspecting the mattress also help. And remember the advice Mum always told you: Change your sheets often.
Keeping bed bugs at bay is about being vigilant. That means simple things such as not placing the suitcase on a bed until inspection, or better yet using the suitcase stand. Either way, bed bugs can be prevented: they're not wandering around neighbourhoods looking for any unlocked doors.
Article provided by SDA Pest Control