Keeping Bedbugs at Bay

Tuesday, August 02, 2011

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Bedbugs have feasted on sleeping humans for thousands of years. Although bedbugs were eradicated from most developed countries after World War II, they are again becoming a problem. The August issue of the Mayo Clinic Health Letter offers a few simple steps to minimize the risk of bringing bedbugs home.

Bedbugs are more common in high-traffic environments such as hotels, apartment buildings, dormitories, office buildings, movie theaters and even libraries. Bedbugs don't care if the environment is clean or dirty. As long as they can find a hiding place and a warm host, they are comfortable almost anywhere.

Mature bedbugs are reddish brown, oval and flat, about the size of an apple seed. Newly hatched bedbugs are smaller, nearly colorless and hard to spot. During the day, bedbugs hide. They emerge to feed when humans sleep or sit still.

Here are tips to help keep bedbugs at bay:

• If sleeping in a high-turnover environment, look for signs of bedbugs such as dark specks (excrement) and empty exoskeletons, which are light brown in color. Check along the mattress seams, the undersides of beds or box springs, headboards and bed frames. Report suspicious findings to facility management.
• Place luggage, purses, backpacks and clothes on tables and dressers. Any items on the floor are prime hiding spots for bedbugs. Consider bringing plastic garbage bags for belongings.
• Before returning home, empty washable items directly into a plastic bag. At home, empty the bag's contents directly into the washing machine or dryer. Either wash at 120 F or run through the dryer on high heat for 20 minutes.
• Heat or freeze luggage. In hot weather, put luggage — packed or unpacked — in a black plastic garbage bag. Keep it in a closed vehicle parked in the sun with the windows up for a day. The target temperature is 120 F for two hours. If the weather is below 23 F, leave the suitcase outside for a week.

Some people have no reaction to bedbug bites, while others experience an allergic reaction that can include severe itching, blisters or hives. Redness and itching usually go away on their own within a week or two. There's no evidence that bedbugs transmit disease to humans.

Mayo Clinic Health Letter is an eight-page monthly newsletter of reliable, accurate and practical information on today's health and medical news. To subscribe, please call 800-333-9037 (toll-free), extension 9771, or visit Mayo Clinic Health Letter Online.

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