Who Is Right Or Wrong About Bed Bugs

Let bedbug episode teach mom to go easier on daughter-in-law

Dear Carolyn:

Both of our sons came home for Thanksgiving with their families. We put up our older son and his family in a hotel and had our younger son, his new (second) wife and their 5-month-old baby stay in our basement guest room.

How I wish I had switched! On Friday morning, the new wife said she had bug bites. I said that twice in the past I had bites also and thought they were from bedbugs. We had done some Internet searching and gone to my dermatologist and discovered bedbugs are not medically dangerous and not the result of uncleanliness. We gave her hydrocortisone and sympathized with her.

That evening, they moved into the hotel. Our son said his wife was absolutely adamant that they get out of our home as soon as possible. She has the reputation of being a "strong" woman, and she earns a very high income, so she is able always to get her way.

My husband and I felt embarrassed and disappointed that she reacted that way, but we are aware that a first-time, 45-year-old mother probably had mother-bear hormones at play, and we don't blame our son too much for giving in to her demands.

But what did that accomplish? She washed everything they brought in hot water, as did I with everything downstairs. My husband thinks she threw away their suitcases. We will buy plastic cases for the bed, but what else can we do?

Our relationship with her is significantly impaired, and she wants me to tell her she did the right thing. I think she overreacted. Should I just chalk this up to normal in-law conflict and expect time to heal the wounds, or does this portend more trouble down the road?

Find out what Carolyn has to say at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/14/AR2010011404092.html

Raleigh Woman Fights Losing Battle Against Bed Bugs

Yolanda Young feels surrounded by creatures out for blood. She is so fearful that she sleeps with her lights on.

“I am frustrated. I am frantic,” Young said. She knew something was biting her, but wasn’t sure what.

Recently, Young took her 10-month old son Nathan to the pediatrician because he had several red marks on him.

Dr. Selam Bullock told Young the problem was bed bugs crawling around the dark corners of her home.

Bullock says judging by her waiting room, bed bugs are spreading in the Triangle.

“I kept seeing these kids coming in with these red welts on their bodies,” Bullock said.

Getting rid of the pests can be difficult. Young said her apartment has been sprayed twice for bed bugs but they are still around. She has also thrown out nearly all of her furniture.

“I ended up having to throw my couch away and I have to throw his (Nathan’s) bed away,” Young said.

But the bed bugs are still around and they are leaving tracks on her walls.

Entomologist Dr. Mike Wladvogel urges that people with bed-bug infestations turn to professionals to get rid of the pests. Bed bugs are resistant to certain pesticides, a problem that N.C. State is researching, he said.

Getting rid of an infestation doesn't come cheap. Most companies charge from $300 to $1,000 to treat the area.

Experts say complaints of bed bugs rose 50 percent in the Triangle last year.

“There is a significant problem,” Bullock said.

Bed bugs do not transmit infection, Bullock said, but people who scratch too much from the bites can cause an infection.

Source: http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/6883234/

Getting Bed Bugs in Chiang Mai, Thailand

I can finally admit it…I got bed bugs once! One of the worst things I have ever had happen to me while traveling and I guess maybe if you travel long enough it’s bound to occur. I wasn’t sure about writing this story because frankly it’s embarrassing and I felt so skanky after it happened, but six months later I can now emotionally deal with the issue (or at least that’s what my therapist says).

Below is what I wrote 6 months ago while waiting at the train station to leave Chiang Mai for Bangkok, Thailand. Steve is the guy who I was doing photography work with in Bangkok.

“Today has been a new one for me here in Chiang Mai. I came up here with a friend to shoot some photos of the area. We had been staying at a recently renovated hotel called The Mercure and were using it as a base for going out to sites in extreme northern Thailand.

We had gotten to Chiang Mai late evening and for 800 baht per night ($22.50 USD) it came with 4 stars and breakfast. Normally this would be over my budget but Steve wanted to stay there because he knew a friend who was a teacher from Bangkok that was bringing her class, 100+ students, to do a music show there for a week. She made all the arrangements and we were given the same discounted price as the school was getting. So for a little more and being such a nice hotel I was ok with it. After all I was thinking it’s ok sometimes to splurge and not stay in a $5, steamy hot, hostel room.

The second night we went to the night market and shot the flowers there, which Chiang Mai is known famously for. Steve wasn’t up for much walking that night and since it was my first night out I went out on my own to see the rest of the market. I got rained in and took cover at a little bar for a few hours, then made my way back to the hotel. It put me back kind of late but overall I had a good night and got some great pictures.

The next morning, I woke up with a whole bunch of sores on my upper body. Mainly along my arms/back and to me it looked like mosquito bites. The thing that got me was that the night before I never really remember the little zappers bothering me much. They itched like hell the next morning and I decided I would take some precautions when out at night again (something I hardly ever do).

I told Steve about the bites that morning and he said maybe they were bed bugs. Never really thought it was that but that night while laying in bed it had me freaked…was I sleeping with a 1,000 little body munchers???  It freaked me so much that I ended up sleeping in my clothes that night and every time a hair on my body twitched I was turning on the light. Made for a long night and the next day I just chopped it up as a “Steve story.”

We got out early the next day and headed further north to Changi Rai and spent the day shooting The White Temple (fantastic place by the way!). Got back and had a ton of pictures to edit. When done I decided to watch a season of Dexter and hit the sack. I’m lying there watching a movie on my laptop and somehow I saw this little bug the size of a pinhead move on the bed (I guess I have 15/20 vision). I got on all fours and scooped it up and put it into a glass. Was this me being paranoid? Had to find out so I started tearing the bed apart, first the sheets, then the under sheets, pillows flipped, then flipped the bed too and after 20min I had 8 bugs in my glass. A few the size of a small lady bug but there isn’t anything cute about them.

This was the evidence I was hoping I wouldn’t find. I knew 100% what had eaten me up 2 nights before.  I went into the bathroom and started counting the bites…I stopped at 98!!! I wasn’t so much mad as I just didn’t want to be there. My plan was to go to the hospital and confirm for sure what it was, then confront the hotel about it the next day. One thing for sure was that I wasn’t lying in that bed again.

Stayed up for as long as I could but just couldn’t make it and ended up curling up in the corner of the room, on a chair like a crack head, using a bathrobe as a blanket. I felt like some bum on the street in my own hotel room that I was paying good money for the night’s stay.

Called Steve the next morning in his room and we went to the hospital. Within 5sec the doctor confirmed what I thought. She told me things like this happen but not to worry, as they carry no diseases that I wasn’t already vaccinated for. Total cost for doctors visit was about 500 baht ($15 USD) and with the cream and meds she prescribed for me it came to about 1,500 baht ($42 USD) total. Pretty cheap doctor visit and was happy about that.

Went back to the hotel and Steve told me the hotel would pay for all the doctor costs and move me into a new "clean" room. Screw that I thought! You don’t eat twice at a restaurant that gets you sick, because if it happens again it’s your own fault for knowing. I loaded all my clothes into one bag (had to get them all washed with some really hot scolding water, as I had bought some new ones on the way back from the hospital) and was ready to get out of that place. Steve kept trying to get me to stay but what sane person would and in the end I decided to just leave and head back to Bangkok early. We were supposed to leave the next day but I didn’t see the point of renting another hotel room (no way in hell I was staying in that hotel another night) just to ride back with him.

So as I write this now I’m at the Chiang Mai train station and getting ready for an over night train ride in a seat….errrr! It’s going to be murder but a seat was all they had left and the thought of sleeping in my safe bed was enough to merit the cost. ~ Written 29May09

Hope this doesn’t discourage people from traveling. I have been on every continent in the world (except for Antarctica), stayed in some really nice hotels to some really dodgy hostels and this is the first time anything like this has happened. It happened in a place I thought it wouldn't, as if it had occurred in a $4 hostel bed I could at least say it was a cheap room and that’s what I get for being cheap. It won’t stop me from traveling but I think I’ll invest in a silk blanket to give me a buffer zone. The joys of traveling outweigh anything like this but it’s not something I want to experience again.

The worst part for me wasn’t the scars I had to wear for a month…it was the physiological part that took hold of my mind. I didn’t sleep in my own bed back in Bangkok for the rest of the time and it really did take me about 3 months before I could get a good nights sleep again.

Sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite… brings a whole new meaning to me now.

Source: http://www.gobackpacking.com

Bedbugs: A Modern-Day Leprosy. Seriously.

A God loving man, Bart Campolo talks about how he who judge all those Bible people who shunned the lepers to protect themselves and their families find himself "just as normal as any other man on the street" after his encounter with bed bugs.

Read the story at http://blog.sojo.net/2009/11/30/bedbugs-a-modern-day-leprosy-seriously/

Bedbugs Back On The Rise In the U.S.

Although bedbugs were virtually eradicated in the United States by the 1960s, increased international travel and restrictions on pesticides have caused a resurgence in places ranging from nursing homes to dormitories to movie theaters. In fact, travelers who carry the insects in their luggage and clothing are the most common recipients of bites.

The National Pest Management Association has reported a 71-percent increase in bedbug infestation in the U.S. since 2001.

Bedbugs leave a bite similar in appearance to that from a mosquito, which takes 10 to 14 days to surface. Once the itching starts, the bite normally lasts for about a month.

While bothersome, a recent U.S. study found bedbugs rarely, if ever, transmit disease. Systemic reactions have been reported but are rare.

According to researchers, the name "bedbug" can actually be misleading.

"They don't stay in the bed," entomologist and bedbug expert at the University of Florida Phil Koehler, Ph.D., said. "They can be found just about everywhere in the room, and they can be found in sofas. They can be found even in wall sockets, and even inside wall void. Probably, about 30 percent are going to be found in other areas of the room you wouldn't even think of."

Standard treatment for the removal of bedbugs involves replacing furniture or using insecticides.

Researchers at the University of Florida have pioneered a removal system that costs about $300 to put together and keeps furniture intact.

"The idea is that it only takes about 113 degrees Fahrenheit to kill bedbugs," Dr. Koehler said.

The treatment involves building a Styrofoam box around a cluster of the infected furniture and heating up the area using an oil-based space heater. The air is heated to about 140 to 150 degrees Fahrenheit so the furniture reaches at least 113 degrees.

Dr. Koehler said it usually takes about two and half hours to reach the necessary temperature. The walls of the room are treated with insecticides to ensure all bugs are eliminated.

Source: http://news8austin.com/content/headlines/?ArID=265850&SecID=2

WARNING: You Could Be Paying To Have Your Home Infested With Bed Bugs

In a special assignment report, Jennifer Baileys was contacted by a Rent-A-Center employee who says some people are paying to infest their own homes with bed bugs.

"The bug problem in Louisville is pretty bad," said "Jeff" who claims to be a Rent-A-Center employee.

"It was maybe one place a year, but now we're getting this one a week.  There's no bleach spray, there's absolutely nothing done for bed bugs I took over a location and my first two days on the job was fighting bed bugs," said Jeff.

His job is not in pest control, "Jeff" says he is a manager of Rent-A-Centers in Louisville.

"Personally I wouldn't rent furniture," said "Jeff".

Fox 41 agreed to hide "Jeff's" identity and he provided proof of his employment with Rent-A-Center. "Jeff" said he contacted Fox 41 because he wants everyone to know the truth about the risk of renting furniture.

"They don't want you to junk the stuff, they want to make their money and that's what they're going to do whatever it takes to make their money," said "Jeff" who has worked at stores in Louisville that have been infested with bed bugs.

"Jeff" also claims few employees ever follow Rent-A-Center's bed bug policy.

"100 percent of the time it's not followed," said "Jeff".

As part of the Fox 41 investigation, Jennifer Baileys contacted Rent-A-Center's corporate office in Texas.  Company Spokesperson Xavier Dominicis said no one at any of the stores in Louisville would be available to talk on camera and that Fox 41 would not be permitted inside any of the stores.

Dominicis did offer information about Rent-A-Centers bed bug policy.  He said all stores use a product called Steri-Fab to fight bed bugs.

"This Steri-Fab do you feel that this really does work and knock out any potential problems," asked Baileys.  "It's the best product on the market right now," said Dominicis.

OPC Pest Control in Louisville backs up that claim.  Manager Kevin Mills said Steri-Fab will kill bed bugs when sprayed directly on the bug, but like all products on the market it will not fix the problem.

"It's just very difficult there's not really a product that's 100% guaranteed for bed bugs no matter what you do," said Mills.

Rent-A-Center employee "Jeff" said whether Steri-Fab works or not is irrelevant because he said employees like himself are not trained on how to use it and most stores do not even carry the product.

"So the Steri-Fab never gets used," Baileys asked "Jeff" "100% of the time never gets used," said "Jeff" "There's never time to stop and do it."

"Jeff" also claimed precautions are rarely taken in his stores to prevent the spread of bed bugs even when new products like mattresses come in.

"We put the old ones right up next to the new ones," said "Jeff" talking about loading and moving mattresses.

"Roaches, that's probably a bigger epidemic than bed bugs. As a matter of fact, there's no policy in place for roaches," claimed "Jeff".

Of course these are claims Rent-A-Center officials dispute. Dominicis says all merchandise is inspected when it comes into and leaves a store.

"When a piece of merchandise comes back it gets brushed and vacuumed that has an upholstery attachment and then after that it gets treated with a product called Steri-Fab," said Dominicis.

"The companies that rent or buy mattresses when they come in and pick up the old mattresses and put it in the same truck as used and new that it's possible that bed bugs could carry from one on to the new," said Mills with OPC.

Pest control officials said buying used furniture is not a good idea. Mills said if someone decided to rent furniture, check out the creases, edges and underneath. Turn it over and check it out with a flash light, but remember these little bugs are good at hiding and very difficult to get rid of.

"Over-the-counter type products are effective on bed bugs, the problem with anything over the counter including chemicals is it will kill a bed bug on direct contact, but getting to where the bed bugs hide and wait is the key," said Mills.

By:  Jennifer Baileys - Fox41.com

A Family Vacation, Ruined by Bug Bites

Someone had better turn Cinderella back into a maid, because one family claims Disney World needs some serious cleaning. They say they got bitten by bugs in a room at one of the theme park's resorts.

Offending Party: Disney's All-Star Music Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

What's at Stake: $200 for a two-night stay

The Complaint: Denine Erlemeier and her family woke up after their first night in the budget-priced hotel to find themselves covered with red bites. A little research online suggested the marks may have come from bedbugs, the reddish-brown, blood-sucking insects that often live in mattresses and bedding.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/travel/article/0,31542,1955180,00.html#ixzz0py2AHQA7