Unwanted Guests: Bed bugs

There was a very interesting story on bed bugs in last weeks’ WebMD Newsletter. Although I had done a bit of research on bedbugs in the past I was reminded that they actually feed off of human blood, not unlike a tick, and we never wake during the process. But when we do get up we have a small bite. This can be confusing with fleas, if you have pets in the bed. Again this is all just one more reason to change your sheets every week and keep the bedroom clean.

The article recommends the following steps for identifying the culprit:

Search the bedroom. Look in folds and creases in mattresses and box springs, pleats of curtains, behind loose wallpaper, in spaces of wicker furniture, behind cove molding, and in corners of drawers. You may notice dark-brown or reddish fecal spots on bed linens, mattresses, or walls near the bed.- OK this is just nasty.
When you find an insect, compare it with a good reference image, such as the one on the Harvard School of Public Health web site, or place it in a plastic bag or pill bottle, and take it to an entomologist at an extension agency for identification.
Make a positive identification before going to the expense of hiring a licensed pest control operator. “In many markets, it costs several hundred dollars to treat a one-room apartment, and don’t be shocked at spending a grand or more to treat a single-family house,”

I am actually starting to itch right now.

But here is the worst part of it. If you happen to be a traveler you can actually bring these hitch-hikers home with you from a nasty hotel. And in some cases a not-so-nasty hotel.

If you are now totally freaked out by the subject here are some steps you can take to try not to get anything else taken out of you on your next road trip: