Bed bugs are the ultimate stowaways; they love to hide in clothing and suitcases as well as on your bed, so with all the travel we do today, bed bugs are becoming an increasing problem. It is not uncommon for bed bugs to enter hotel rooms with one set of visitors and then leave again a few days later with another group of guests. They can travel home on any clothing, bedding or other soft material that has been exposed and because of this bed bugs are becoming a growing problem, and even the finest hotels can fall victim to these parasites. It's important to know that the problem of bed bugs is not always the result of sanitation problems.
Signs of bed bugs are easy to spot if you know what you are looking for. You, first of all, need to take the sheets off the bed and look closely at the mattress. Look for small, dark blood spots on the mattress. Live bedbugs will also be spotted easily as they are about the size of an apple seed. The eggs are about 1mm in width and the colour of milk.
Bed bug bites cause red, irritating marks, and not everyone reacts to the bites. However, some people develop a more severe skin reaction and can experience disturbed sleep as well.
While bed bugs are not known to spread diseases, they can cause irritation and distress, and they can also ruin an organisation's reputation. If you find that you do have them, then the first thing you need to do to remove bed bugs is to strip the mattress of all the bedding, wrap it in sealed bags so that they cannot escape and then immediately wash the bedding in hot water above 50 degrees Celsius. The bedding then needs to be dried on the highest setting too. While bed bugs love warm temperatures, high temperatures are an excellent way to remove bed bugs.
It is important that you do not abandon your bed in an attempt to avoid the bed bugs as they will just follow you to other parts of the home as they are naturally drawn to both your body heat and the carbon dioxide you breathe out. If you move to the couch to sleep, then this will only spread the infestation, and if you go and stay with a friend or family member, then you will be putting them at risk. What you really need to do is to remove the bed bugs.
They can be difficult to treat and exterminate as bed bugs reproduce quickly and can hide anywhere in your home. So, if you do think you have a bed bug infestation, then you need to act immediately. As mentioned, you should start by stripping and washing your bedding, but then you also need to contact a professional pest control company as they will have the technical knowledge and access to a range of professional use products and equipment which are not available to the general public.
