Bedbugs Making a Comeback

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By Lois M. Collins
Deseret Morning News
Published: Monday, Jan. 28, 2008 12:02 a.m. MST

"Good night, sleep tight. Don't let the bedbugs bite" is a cheery little rhyme, but bedbugs are no joke if you have them. After decades of decreasing numbers, bedbugs are making a comeback — in clean homes and dirty homes and any homes they happen to reach.

"We're absolutely seeing more bedbugs in Utah," says Diane Keay, environmental health area supervisor in the Salt Lake Valley Health Department.

Many experts believe bedbugs numbers declined because for many years people used broad-spectrum insecticides against household pests such as cockroaches. Controlling bedbugs was a happy side effect. These days, people use specific insecticides against cockroaches, usually a bait the roaches carry back into the wall and share with others. But it's not a meal that attracts bedbugs, Keay says.

Rather, they're out for blood.

Bedbugs are not considered a public health crisis. They don't transmit any known disease so they're at the bottom of the list of issues that public health departments tackle. They're basically the responsibility of the homeowner or the landlord, Keay says.

That doesn't mean bedbugs can't make life miserable for people who have them in their home.

The bedbug that bites people, Cimex lectularius, is only about a quarter-inch long and is flat until it feeds. It's wingless and has a sharp beak to pierce skin. As it feeds, it injects a fluid that helps it get blood, and that's what makes skin swell and itch.

Cornell University's fact sheet says bedbugs usually bite at night, but if the light's low during the day, you're sitting still and they're hungry, all bets are off.

To reproduce, a bedbug drops as many as 50 eggs in crevices of bed frames, baseboards, floors and walls, among other sites. They hatch in six to 28 days, depending on room temperature. Once hatched, they feed as soon as they find a host. That's you. There can be as many as three generations a year, so they can take root and become an infestation quickly.

Getting rid of them, Keay says, requires a proactive approach.

She recommends vacuuming a lot. Although they're not associated with poor housekeeping, as some people have suggested, "none of us vacuum around the bed every day." You must, if you want to eradicate them without chemicals. And they're not just in the bed. They can be in carpets and wall baseboards and other places nearby. Be aware, as well, that they may settle in or around a favorite chair or hitch a ride in the fold of the backpack that's so often on you.

"They're coming to where there's going to be a warm meal on a regular basis, and they will not go further than they need to to hide," she says.

Early on, they're found most often in mattress seams, tufts, folds, etc. Over time, they spread out. You should watch for black or brown spots of dried excrement.

The piggiest of bedbugs eats only every few days. And if food is scarce, they can cope, going as many as nine months without a meal.

That's also why instructions for tight-weave encasements that prevent them from reaching you advise you to leave them in place for a year. Take it off even briefly and some may escape.

You don't usually need to toss things, Keay says. Just trap the bugs and vacuum, vacuum, vacuum or have a professional deal with serious infestations.

If you are going to treat an infestation chemically yourself, Cornell University says, use a household insecticide labeled for bedbug control. Don't ever use an insecticide on the mattress unless the label specifically says that's safe. In that case, spray the slats, springs and frame and wet them thoroughly.

Don't miss crevices. Then spray a light mist on the entire mattress, paying attention to tufts, seams and folds. Don't use the mattress until it's completely dry.

Fix loose wall coverings, caulk cracks and crevices and generally eliminate hiding places. And do it more than once, because if eggs are overlooked and hatched, the problem's not gone.

Cornell says after you thoroughly clean, you should move the bed away from the walls and coat the bed legs for three or four inches to keep the bugs from crawling up them. Some people use petroleum jelly. Remove dust covers and keep blankets off the floor.

When the bugs travel far, they're not burning their own calories. They get moved from your home to that hotel where you stayed on vacation or from the hotel to your home. Keay never keeps her luggage next to her bed. She keeps it elevated and at a distance. Then, "I hope for the best."

People don't feel the introductory bites. The reaction, sometimes quite severe, develops over time. In the meantime, the little creatures reproduce.

"By the time you know you've got them, you've got them," Keay says.

Found Bedbugs? Now What?

• Get rid of clutter under which the bugs can hide.
• Vacuum the area (even the bed) thoroughly every day until the bedbugs are gone.
• Toss bedding into a hot (140 degree F) dryer for 20 minutes to kill the bedbugs.
• Make your bed an island by moving it away from the wall and making sure bedding doesn't touch the floor.
• Seal crevices where the bugs might hide.

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