FYI: Bedbugs

April 17, 2009  
Filed under Student News

You remember the statement “Sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite.” The bedbugs are back, and they are biting. Bedbugs are making a comeback because of traveling and the lack of chemicals to kill bugs. Bedbugs are the tiny six-legged reddish-brown insects that hide during the day and suck your blood at night. Bedbugs hide in cracks, electrical outlets, behind wallpaper, base boards, picture frames, between beds, and in the creases of mattresses. The symptoms of bedbug bites are small, red, itchy bumps that are in a group or cluster. Ways to check for bedbugs are:

• Be aware. If you are staying somewhere outside of your home, never put anything on the bed without checking the mattress first. It’s common for people to walk into a hotel room and throw their luggage, coats, clothing or themselves on the bed right away. Stop and first check the seams, tags, edges, pillows, and linens on the bed to make sure you won’t be sleeping with any unexpected pests.
• Know what to look out for in a bed bug situation. Watch out for actual crawling bed bugs or dead remains, dark brown/reddish fecal stains, blood stains, feces or cast skins of the bugs. Scrutinize your furniture, clothing, linens, curtains, and especially your bed frames and mattresses. Bed bugs are oval shaped and very flat, so they love to fit in tiny crevices, seams and nooks–so check everything.
• Bed bugs can survive months without feeding, so check everything regularly. Reduce clutter and trash in your home to reduce hiding places for these pesky little bugs; they can hide in the smallest places. Keep your sheets tucked in and off the floor, and also keep furniture away from walls to prevent them from crawling onto your bed.
• Clean, clean, and clean. Vacuum and scrub everything to dislodge any hidden bed bugs or eggs. Seal any cracks or holes in flooring and walls (especially around wires and pipes) to prevent the bugs from traveling inside or from neighboring apartments.

If you see that your house is infested with bedbugs, call a pest control so they can get the bedbugs out.

Information obtained from

Asmestad, “How to Check for and Treat Bed Bugs.” Ehow. 17 Apr 2009 http://www.ehow.com/how_2135258_check-treat-bed-bugs.html.