How To Get Rid Of BedBugs: These Six Items Will Help

Have you ever slept in a hotel or traveled by bus and found that you later had tiny red bites on your skin? This is probably because of bedbugs.

Bedbugs are small wingless insects that feed exclusively on warm-blooded creatures. This makes us an ideal host for them. Bedbugs are oval and flattened in shape; white, brown, or burnt orange in color; and about one-fourth of an inch in length. The young ones are the size of a poppy seed. They are visible to the naked eye. They get their name because of their preference to live in home furnishings including sofas, beds, and mattresses. However, they are increasingly being found in offices across the U.S. They usually hide in dark cracks and crevices.

You would rarely know when you are being bitten, because they bite when you are asleep. A bed bug’s bite is painless because the saliva of the bed bug is an anesthetic. The feeding is complete in just five minutes. However, you might find a red welt when you are awake, one similar to that of a mosquito or flea bite. Over a period of a few weeks, you may get sensitized to repeated bites and develop an allergic response. Bed bugs are most active an hour before sunrise, which is their peak feeding time, but may also feed during the day if they are hungry or get the opportunity.

Bed bugs feed every five to ten days. They can, however, live for several months without feeding. If there is no food around, they become dormant for over a year. A well-fed bed bug lives for about six to nine months. The female bed bug lays approximately 5 eggs in a day and nearly 500 during their entire lifetime. Eggs are nearly 1 mm long and are visible to the naked eye. They have a milky-white tinge and take two weeks to hatch. It is therefore important to recheck your home periodically.

Most bites resolve within one to two weeks. Treatments focus on relieving symptoms, and include:

• Applying a topical cream, such as cortisone, to relieve itching
• Administering an oral antibiotic if infection occurs
• Giving oral corticosteroids if there is a severe allergic reaction.
• Use of antihistamines, in some cases, to relieve allergic reactions

As soon as the symptoms are treated, it will be necessary to know the way to deal with the infestation.

The following procedures are advised to get rid of bed bugs:

• Bag the infested bedding and garments and launder them at a minimum of 120° F
• Heat the items in the drier
• For items that cannot be treated by washing or by placing in the drier, wrap them in plastic and place them outdoors in a very hot and sunny location for at least 24 hours
• Vacuuming may help get rid of some of the bed dugs before treatment with insecticides
• You may find it is best to throw some infested items away (bag them before disposal)
• Insecticides are very effective in getting rid of bed bugs. A good pest control professional knows where to look for them and will treat all areas where bugs are found.

The biggest risk from bed bugs comes from secondary bacterial infections, caused by scratching the skin. They are not known to carry diseases, but can cause discomfort and disturbed sleep. If your home is infested with bedbugs, it is important to deal with them immediately.

10/22/2011 Todays Bedbugs Are Stronger Than Years Past: Resistance Has Grown To Pesticides Since 1950′s

US researchers have uncovered the genetic mechanism that bed bugs use to resist powerful insecticides, according to a study, leading to the hope of more effective ways to combat the pests.

Bed bugs, which have been largely absent from the United States since the 1950s, have returned in force in the last decade in the US, and notably other Western countries in Europe.

They have, in this time, developed unique resistance to the insecticides that are mainly used against them — deltamethrin and beta-cyfluthrin, both leading pyrethroids.

The genetic research released Wednesday in the journal PLoS One, published by the Public Library, offers new hope to understand their resistance and find new ways to eradicate the blood-sucking bugs.

“Different bed bug populations within the US and throughout the world may differ in their levels of resistance and resistance strategies, so there is the need for continuous surveillance,” said lead author Zach Adelman, associate professor of entomology at Virginia Tech.

Adelman and the other researchers in the study assessed two populations of bed bugs — “a robust, resistant population” found in 2008, and a “non-resistant population” that has been raised in a lab since 1973.

The study determined how each strain succumbed to the pyrethroids, if at all, and determined that over a 24 hour period it required “5,200 times more deltamethrin or 111 times more beta-cyfulthrin” to kill the modern bed bugs compared to the older specimens.

The bed bug’s bite is a little painful rather than dangerous, but many people are scared because the creature mainly attacks when people are asleep.

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10/1/2011 Do-It-Yourself Bedbug Extermination Proves To Be Dangerous To Health

A new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says some Americans are poisoning themselves by using do-it-yourself treatments to get rid of bed bugs.

A North Carolina woman died after spraying pesticide on her legs, chest and hair when nine cans of a bug-killing fog released in her home didn’t work. A kindergartner in Ohio experienced diarrhea, headaches and vomiting after the floors in his home were “saturated” with insecticide.

All told, researchers identified 111 cases in seven states of people getting sick in amateur attempts to combat a resurgence in the bed bug population; a majority of cases – 73 percent – were of low severity.

Jeff Mehaffey, a sales representative at Augusta’s Horne’s Pest Control, suggests calling a professional for treatment as soon as bed bugs are suspected. “They’re going to be everywhere,” he said.

Bed bugs are small, reddish-brown insects about 1 to 7 millimeters in length. Their flat shape and size allow them to hide during the day in tiny crevices. They can travel 100 feet in one night, but they usually live within 8 feet of where people sleep.

While bed bugs are not known to spread disease, their blood-sucking bites can cause severe itching.

“A lot of people aren’t willing to devote the amount of time” it takes to getting rid of bed bugs, said Mehaffey.

Professionals pull apart bed frames, bag up clutter and spray the proper amounts of pesticide into every nook and cranny to fully rid a house of bed bugs. A common mistake that homeowners make with poisons is failing to dilute the solution or follow other directions, Mehaffey said. It’s also critical that treatments also get rid of any eggs that might be present or the infestation will reoccur.

The CDC suggests several methods of getting rid of bed bugs without professional help: heat treatments, sealing cracks and crevices, vacuuming and “judicious” use of effective chemical pesticides.

“Although bed bugs may sometimes be controlled by nonchemical means alone, this approach is often very difficult, potentially less effective, and usually more resource intensive,” the CDC said.

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7/15/2011 NYC Denies Woman’s Claims Of Bedbugs At Homeless Shelter: Claims Shelter In Mott Haven Has Razor Toothed Bedbugs

A Bronx mother is claiming her family got a creepy crawly surprise last week at a borough homeless shelter – bedbugs.

But the Department of Homeless Services declared the shelter is bedbug-free and is accusing Sharon Stoves, 27, of lying to manipulate the system.

Stoves and her three daughters spent about a year at a shelter near Yankee Stadium before moving last Friday to Jackson Avenue Family Residence, a shelter on E. 138th St. in Mott Haven.

Other residents insist the building is clean and well-run.

Stoves claims she woke up early Saturday to an attack by razor-toothed bedbugs, and even has a plastic cup of the critters that she claims she collected before fleeing the unit.

“There were bedbugs on me,” she said. “I grabbed the kids and there was a bedbug on my daughter’s ear.”

They spent the rest of the night with the girls’ father.

Stoves demanded a transfer from DHS. The agency sent an exterminator to inspect her unit, and found no trace of bedbugs and Stoves was told to return, said Heather Janik, a DHS spokeswoman.

“Bedbugs are a serious problem throughout the city and we are addressing this as such,” Janik said. “The unit was aggressively treated by an expert contractor and no bedbugs were found.”

Stoves claims she and her daughters were bitten, but DHS found no signs of bedbug bites.

Jackson residents Armando Troche, 29, and Mary Santiago, 57, said Tuesday their units are bedbug-free.

According to Janik, “Ms. Stoves’ false claims and demands to be relocated are rooted in avoiding shelter compliance and moving herself and her children towards self-sufficiency.”

The average cost of housing a family in the shelter system is $3,000 per month.

On Saturday, Stoves – who is unemployed – refused to return to Jackson.

“They wanted to send me back to the same shelter with the bedbugs,” she said. “I was grossed out and disgusted.”

On Monday, Stoves again demanded a transfer and DHS moved the family to a shelter on Sherman Ave. near E. 167th St.

Bedbug panic gripped the city last year, following sightings at hotels and SoHo clothing stores.

The shelter system is no different, said Patrick Markee, spokesman at Coalition for the Homeless, a watchdog group that has documented bedbug infestations in several city shelters.

But DHS has taken steps to prevent the city’s bedbug problem from affecting the shelter system, said Janik.

City Department of Housing Preservation and Development records show that a bedbug complaint was filed at Jackson on June 24.

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