Bed Bug Bites

Even if you have never seen a bed bug, you have heard the old adage “Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite.” Bed bugs are insects of the order Hemiptera. The order of Hemiptera contains insects that are designed specifically for sucking and piercing. The only nutrient for bed bugs is blood. Other insects in the order Hemiptera are chiefly suckers of plant sap.

Because of the way bed bugs mate, they multiply in size while breeding. A Department of Health report claimed that if forty bed bugs are placed in a room with a mild temperature, within six months their population would exceed 5,900.

How to Spot a Bed Bug

Bed bugs are oval-shaped insects, flat in appearance, and have a mahogany color which varies from a straw-like tint to a deep reddish mahogany. They are often nicknamed “Mahogany Flats” “Red Coats” and “Crimson Ramblers” for this reason.

Bed bugs have well developed legs and they are apt to crawl up vertical surfaces quite easily. They do not fly; both their forewings and hind wings are functionally nonexistent. Bed bugs have very visible antennae and regularly emit a foul odor.

The Bite of a Bed Bug

The bed bug is actually an extremely shy insect. It is drawn to the warmth of the human body at night, not only because it is averse to cold temperature, but for feeding. Bed bugs have a “beak” with mouthparts that are dissected into two: one mouthpart secretes the bed bugs’ saliva into the human, and the other mouthpart feeds off of blood concurrently.

Some report adverse reactions to bed bug bites, others have no reaction at all, and some have a mild reaction. For some reason unknown to scientists, the majority of people over 65 do not react whatsoever to the bites. A bed bug does not have the capabilities of host detection when the host (human) is over five feet away.

Feeding and Survival

A bed bug can suck up to six times its weight in blood. Often, their red color increases after a feeding, as they are engorged with the host’s blood. They can feed for up to ten minutes. In most cases, the host is unaware that they are being bitten.

It is impossible to “starve” bed bugs out, as they are able to survive without sustenance anywhere from six months to over a year. They are sensitive to heat and extreme cold, but are able to survive without the benefits of oxygen as well.

Health Risks

Bed bugs are not known to cause any diseases directly; however, they can be carriers of disease. They chiefly feed on human blood, but if not available, they will seek out other sources of food, including rodents, guinea pigs, dogs, cats and even bats.

If a bed bug was feeding on a bat or other animal prior to feeding on a human, it could potentially carry such diseases as MRSA or antibiotic-resisting bacteria. According to laboratory testing, bed bugs are also known carriers of agents of anthrax, yellow fever, plague and typhus.

Reactions to Bed Bug Bites

When people are bitten, they often do not notice at first. It’s a possibility that one reason could be that bed bugs feed in the late night, soon before the breaking of dawn. Humans are often in a deep REM sleep during that time. Therefore, bed bug bites are detected usually the next morning; however, it can take up to ten days to see an allergic reaction to a bite.

No two people react to bed bugs in the same way, although the reactions are similar. Because of the saliva that bed bugs leave in humans, the first reaction is usually severe itching and irritation. This is often followed by a raised appearance on the contacted area. Some people, however, react by having welts and hives all over the body. Still others will have small, pinkish bumps that are concentrated in one area.

Are They Bed Bugs?

Doctors often misdiagnose those afflicted with bed bug bites because it is nearly impossible to tell, if you are experiencing an allergic reaction, what bit you. Bed bug bites can often be identical in appearance and nature to mosquito bites. The only way to discern, with complete surety, what your bites are from, is to get a sample of what has bitten you.

Some people have no reaction whatsoever to bed bugs. In addition to not having much of an effect on the elderly, some are just not allergic to bed bugs. Since the irritation and welting appears as the result of an allergic reaction, it is possible to not even know that you were bitten at all. It is entirely possible for several people to live in the same house, and have one person not be affected.

A person who is affected by bed bugs so severely that they are suffering from welts may have to endure it for a few weeks. Severe reactions to bed bugs can take up to three weeks to heal. Welts look similar to hives, and they are typically all over the body.

Treatment for Bites

If you have been bitten and have any reaction at all, the first step is to wash the affected area with warm soap and water. If you have diluted enzyme cleaner on hand, that is more preferable to wash the bite with. You can apply calamine lotion or bentonite clay to the area to help stop the itching.

Additionally, take over-the-counter antihistamines as needed. If you experience a severe rash or welt, accompanied by tightness in the chest or difficulty breathing, consult your physician immediately. A doctor might prescribe epinephrine or antibiotics to rid the allergic reaction.

Where Do Bed Bugs Come From?

Bed bugs have recently reemerged as an insect predator due to the government’s ban of DDT. While potentially harmful to humans, DDT was very effective at wiping out bed bug populations. When federal regulations mandated extermination companies to more natural means of insecticide, bed bugs began to reappear.

The female bed bug can lay up to three to five eggs per day, and up to five hundred eggs in the span of its lifetime. Bed bug mating is classified as “traumatic insemination”: the male bed bug slices through the body cavity of the female bed bug for insemination. When the female is ready to lay eggs, she will travel to protected spaces, and lay eggs in ceiling cracks, behind wallpaper, and cracks of furniture.

Infestation

Over several hundred eggs can be deposited by the female over the course of several months. The eggs will hatch into nymphs, or baby bed bugs. They must go through five molts to reach the size of an adult, and each molt requires a blood feeding. Once you have a true infestation, it can be very difficult to get rid of.

When an infestation begins, it will usually be centralized in the area of the mattress. Bed bugs usually do not travel long distances from their host, but they will spread to more areas in the sleeping quarters as time progresses.

Because of their flat bodies and their tendency to feed at night, they can go unnoticed for quite some period of time. Bed bugs prefer hard, wooden surfaces, but they can hide in a variety of places.

Where to Look for Bed Bugs

Once you have determined that you have an infestation, there are many places in the bedroom that should be checked. If you have bed bugs, they will have traveled to areas beyond just the mattress. Some of the places that should be checked include: behind walls and wallpaper, seams of upholstered furniture, electrical outlets, under wall-to-wall carpeting, and bed frames.

Bed bugs also have the ability to travel beyond the bedroom, so all adjoining rooms should be checked for infestation. Any area that offers a layer of protection to the bed bug, e.g. dark, isolated areas, should be checked. They do leave excrement droppings behind, so even if they are not seen, you can often see where they have been. The best method to find them is to check only at night, and with a red light.

If bed bugs are present in a room, check all drawers, suitcases, clothing, and even other people. They can easily be transmitted through infested clothing or containers.

If the infested area includes other animals, check them as well. Because bed bugs feed on blood that is not specific to humans, it is possible that animals can be infested as well. It is also possible to smell bed bugs, as they emit a foul odor when frightened.

How Do I Get Rid of Bed Bugs?

First, remove all affected areas such as bed linens, clothing, sheets and pillowcases and wash them in borax. For non-washable surfaces, as in drawers or cabinets, dust talcum powder on the affected area.

Vacuum the area thoroughly and purchase an enzyme cleaner to clean all possible surfaces. If there are open spots or crevices in the wall, dust them with talcum powder and caulk them shut. This cleaning process should be repeated as often as possible to rid a bed bug infestation.

Preventive Measures

Often, more severe measures need to be taken to prevent bed bugs coming back. Normal pesticides that would be successful on flies and roaches are not effective on bed bugs. Because bed bugs have no grooming behavior, there is no opportunity for them to swallow the pesticides that have been used to treat the area.

It does not matter with respect to the bed bugs if your home is clean or dirty; neither affects bed bugs or their breeding. They are drawn to clutter, however, so they can hide themselves easily. If you find that you have an infestation, rid yourself of all clutter inside and outside near cracks and crevices.

Locating Infestations

If you cannot locate bed bugs yourself, especially if you are the landlord of rental housing or owner of a hotel, a professional may need to be sought to locate infestations. Often, a bed bug-sniffing dog will be used to locate the insects. However, this does have a margin of error.

Other methods used are an interceptor-type monitoring device and sticky traps. A sticky trap is not useful in exterminating bed bugs, but it can help catch and locate several so that you can be sure that you are indeed infested.

It is not necessary that you need to dispose of everything that was infested by bed bugs. Often, moving infested clothing and objects from one place to another can cause more infestation and be counterproductive, as the bed bugs can fall off during travel. If a piece of furniture is completely infested, however, it may be in your best interest to throw it away.

Clean Thoroughly

For tough infestations, steam clean all affected areas, e.g. the mattress, bed linens, pillowcases. Take everything apart in the infested room, including the bed, drawers, and all other objects.

Everything must be thoroughly cleaned with either borax, an enzyme cleaner, or a Comet-type cleaner. The best hope for getting rid of them through the first cleaning is to use a combination of the three. Do not buy and use strong pesticides; as aforementioned, they do not work and are hazardous to humans and other animals breathing in the fumes.

Check for Bats

If, after everything is thoroughly taken apart and cleaned, you still have an infestation, other measures may need to be taken. You may need to check for bats, as an infestation of bats and of bed bugs can be closely related. A special species of bed bug, referred to as “bat bugs” can be present when there is an infestation of bats.

Bat bugs are very similar to the common bed bug in appearance, but typically do not infest an area as strongly as the common bed bug. If it is discovered that you have bats, after that problem is resolved, the bat bugs may likely disappear. Bat bugs tend to wander, as compared to the common bed bug, which do not relocate.

The same borax and enzyme cleaning measures need to be taken for a bat bug infestation, but it is likely that the first treatment may rid you of this problem.

If you do not have bat bugs, but an infestation of common bed bugs remain, include diluted sodium borate with the enzyme cleaner during the next cleaning.

Using Temperature Controls on Bed Bugs

Bed bugs are also sensitive to extreme temperatures. It may be necessary to rid the infestation by exposing the area to extreme heat or cold. Bed bugs are most comfortable in temperatures around eighty degrees Fahrenheit. Raising the temperature to ninety-seven to ninety-nine degrees may kill off quite a bit of the population.

The death point of the bed bug rests somewhere between one hundred and eleven to one hundred and thirteen degrees Fahrenheit. If it is possible to raise the room temperature to one hundred and twenty degrees Fahrenheit or above for several hours, do so. It will most likely kill the majority of the population.

It is also recommended to put infested areas, such as a mattress, in saunas reaching temperatures upwards of one hundred and seventy degrees Fahrenheit.

Similarly, bed bugs will perish in extremely cold temperatures. If it is possible to keep a room unheated for a prolonged period of time, it may kill the population. All stages of the common bed bug, from nymphs to adults, can survive for up to five days in temperatures of fourteen degrees Fahrenheit. Prolonged exposure, however, to these temperatures, will kill them.

You can also take infested areas, such as mattresses, and place them in the sun, or cover the areas with a large plastic wrap and insert dry ice. The extreme temperature will naturally fumigate the pests.

Caution Concerning Chemicals

Never treat any bedding, mattress, etc. with anything other than the treatments listed: borax, enzyme cleaner, Comet, sodium borate. Other pesticides and exterminating fluids can be harmful to humans. Even so, bedding and mattresses treated with chemicals such as borax or Comet should be left outside to dry naturally in the sun, then wrapped in plastic before next use, so as not to irritate the skin.

Borax and the like should be used as a last resort when no other methods have been successful. Pregnant women, the elderly, and infants can be especially sensitive to even these chemicals. At no point should they be breathing in these fumes.

It is also important that household pets be kept away from areas that are being treated, as they can get very ill from the toxins. Cover all mattresses and boxsprings with encasements that can be purchased at hardware stores for around fifty dollars.

Further Safety Measures

When treating bed bugs or before coming in contact with them, always be sure to wear rubber gloves, safety glasses and a mask so that you do not breathe in any fumes. Dispose of vacuum bags in sealed plastic, and rewash all treated areas with enzyme cleaner, or non-abrasive peppermint soap.

Place all items to be disposed in plastic bags in direct sunlight before disposing of them. This will kill a majority of the bed bug population and prevent them from being tracked into the dwelling again.

When to Seek a Professional

If all other options have been exhausted, you may need to seek a professional PMP (Pest Management Professional). There are pesticides that are approved for professionals to use during a bed bug infestation. These pesticides, however, are not always effective, and typically not as effective as steam cleaning, excessive heat, or excessive cold. The exterminator may opt to treat the area with carbon dioxide.

How Did I Get Bed Bugs?

There are several things that you should ask yourself and several things that should be checked to prevent a re-infestation of bed bugs, or alternatively, if you have never had a bed bug problem, measures you should take to ensure that you hopefully never will.

One: Out-of-town Trips

Did you or someone else in your home recently come home from a trip? Bed bugs can stow away in clothing in suitcases. A good preventative measure is to check lodging you are staying in immediately after arrival. As mentioned before, signs of bed bugs even during daytime are the blood-colored excrement they leave behind.

Two: Second-hand Furniture

If you have recently purchased or picked up a used piece of furniture, or have been in a used furniture store, check the item thoroughly for signs of possible infestation before purchase or before its entry into your home.

Three: Overnight Visitors

If you recently had an overnight visitor and the problem seems to be surfacing from areas where the visitor stayed, attack this area with treatment before your own sleeping quarters. It is possible, since bed bugs do not travel far, that the infestation is confined to this one area.

Four: The Apartment Next Door

If you live in an apartment or multi-family dwelling, it is possible that bed bugs can come in through the walls from an adjacent apartment. Inform your landlord immediately so that they may take care of the problem.

Five: Any Routine Visitor Can Bring Bugs

Be cautious of people who routinely enter your home. This includes home health aides, maids, and nurses. It is possible for bed bugs to be transmitted simply by the person’s visit. They need not be staying overnight or sleeping in a bed to transmit the bugs.

Six: Check School Bags

Inspect school children’s backpacks for signs of possible infestations. If an infestation is found, inspect areas near where the backpacks are usually stored.

How to Avoid Bed Bugs While Traveling

It may be impossible to completely avoid bed bugs during the span of your lifetime, but taking a few simple precautions will aid you in not carrying them home with you.

Inspect Your Hotel Room

Upon arrival at a hotel, check areas thoroughly. Check mattresses, headboards, behind picture frames, in drawers. Check every area where a bed bug could possibly hide. If you find evidence of bed bugs, as in their excrement, it is possible that it is from an old infestation.

If any evidence of infestation or prior infestation is discovered, notify the hotel staff immediately and ask to be switched to another room. Make sure the room is not adjacent to the room you just evacuated, as the bugs can easily travel through thin walls.

While you are staying at a hotel, it is best to leave your clothing packed in suitcases. Unpacking them and storing them in dresser drawers at the hotel may open up an opportunity for bed bugs to get in your clothing.

Notify the Hotel Management of the Problem

If you arrive home and discover that you have brought some unwanted guests home with you, immediately notify the hotel of your discovery. Having a possible bed bug infestation in hotels and motels can be a public relations nightmare for the owners. Politely ask them to pay for any and all costs incurred to rid your clothing and home of a possible new infestation.

It is a possibility that they will refuse; however, you can always advise that you will report the building to the appropriate health authorities. Owners of dwellings are legally responsible for bed bug infestations, no matter how they got there. It’s always important to be well-informed of state and local laws when traveling, as well.

Treat Your Luggage Immediately

Upon arrival home with bed bugs, attempt to launder all clothing before bringing it into your home, using the methods described above (steam cleaning, borax, etc.). If it is already too late and you have brought your luggage into the home, unpack on a smooth surface like cement or hardwood flooring that is of a light color, so you can see bed bugs easily.

Do not unpack on carpet, as eggs and bed bugs themselves can immediately attach themselves in camouflaged areas. Unpack clothing into plastic bags, and freeze suitcases if possible when they are emptied.

What Not to Do in a Bed Bug Situation

There are many myths, folklore and “home remedies” out there, but most of them are not very effective. Do not use petroleum jelly or kerosene on affected areas; petroleum jelly is ineffective and kerosene is a fire hazard.

Thyme oil may discourage bed bugs, but oils have not been proven to be effective in their extermination. Using this method will only delay the length of time you have an infestation.

If you are turning up the heat or turning off the heat to get rid of bed bugs, be advised that the entire affected area must be at the extreme temperature (heat or cold) for a prolonged period of time. This method works best in dwellings that are unoccupied, or ones that are easily unoccupied.

What Not to Do While Sleeping

Do not sleep with a light on. It is true that bed bugs feed at night, but this is because of their nocturnal nature, not because they are attracted to the dark. To the contrary, they will be attracted to the light.

Don’t sleep in a different room or try to vacate your residence. The likelihood of you carrying bed bugs with you to a different room, hotel, or friend’s house is much greater than just eliminating the problem.

Do not throw away a mattress or furniture and expect to be rid of the problem. Bed bugs live in many other places other than mattresses or furniture; it is likely that you will have disposed of valuable furniture and still have a bed bug problem. Treat the affected areas with steam cleaning, borax, and enzyme solution.

Insecticide Warning

Do not apply insecticides or pesticides yourself. The legal ramifications of a non-licensed professional applying hazardous chemicals is far too dangerous. If you plan to treat bed bugs with chemicals, hire a PMP.

Finally, if you have recently been able to rid an affected area, monitor the area closely for several weeks to several months. Check for excrement droppings, and signs of bed bugs.

Of course, if you continue to be bitten, it is positively certain that you still have a problem. Continue to steam clean and treat affected areas until there are no further evidences of bed bugs.

Follow These Instructions With Care

All in all, it will probably take the better part of three weeks to a month to completely get rid of an infestation. Don’t panic, and try to be as patient but determined as possible. Bed bugs do not have to be a permanent problem, if all the above instructions are implicitly followed.

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