Though they may look creepy, studies have shown bedbugs incapable of transmitting diseases. Photo courtesy of CDC Public Health Image Library

Don’t look now, but bedbugs are making a major comeback around the world. Fueled by a massive increase in global travel, bedbugs have spread way beyond their traditional stomping grounds of overcrowded housing and into the hotel rooms, luggage, and yes, even the homes of people who have never encountered them before.  Their comeback has been met with a veritable media frenzy, fueling paranoia about the harmless but extremely annoying bloodsuckers.

While bedbugs are an extremely irritating pest - and a new one just emerging for most Americans - they do not spread disease, and should not be viewed as an emergency. In fact, while bedbugs are annoying, they pose less of a risk to your family than spraying pesticides inside your house. However, getting on top of the problem right away can spare you from some of the massive frustration that many people are reporting after experiencing an infestation.

Prevention - The best way to deal with bedbugs is to avoid them in the first place. Choosing a five-star hotel won’t necessarily make the difference. When you arrive in a hotel or dorm room, leave your luggage outside the door and make a quick inspection of the mattress. Pull back the sheets and check carefully around the mattress seams, between the mattress and box spring, and in any other nooks and crannies where bugs might be hiding. If you find bedbugs, don’t stay in the room. Instead, politely request another room and examine it carefully.

Idenfication - Are you waking up in the morning with small, hard, itchy bites on you? Those may be bedbugs. Don’t wait until the itching becomes ongoing and unbearable - inspect your bedroom to identify the culprit. Check your bedding carefully for signs of them. Tiny black dots spread around the sheets and mattress indicate bedbug activity. Bedbugs are flat, reddish-brown insects about the size of a pencil eraser, and their eggs look like little clear plastic tubes about the same size.

Treatment - If you think you have a bedbug infestation, you should immediately launder all the bedding in hot water and carefully vacuum the mattress (throwing away the vacuum bag afterward in your outdoor trash bin), remove all clutter from the room such as papers and magazines and move the bed away from the wall. For a full step-by-step on safe bedbug control, from prevention to identification to treatment, download this excellent fact sheet from the New York State IPM program.

If you decide that you need the help of a licensed pest control operator, make sure that the PCO you call is experienced in dealing successfully with bedbugs and understands Integrated Pest Management (IPM). They should be able to identify the pest, use technology to find all the bedbugs’ hiding places, and then treat the area with the most effective, least toxic remedies available. We recommend specifically asking them about using heat and steam instead of spraying.

Bedbugs are gross, icky, weird, and new to most of us. But they’re not a danger, and they can be controlled without poisoning our bedrooms - so don’t let the hype get the best of you.