They lie in your mattress, in the curtains or in the crevices of furniture. Then, just when you think it’s time for a night’s sleep, out they come. Little mites which devour human blood. Officially known as Cimex Lectularius, the bed bug is back with a vengeance in the Netherlands.
Once eradicated in Western countries, the last few years have seen a comeback of bed bugs - in large numbers. Along with more desirable souvenirs, bed beds are often brought back from faraway countries where they haven’t been exterminated. New Yorkers have also experienced a resurgence of unwelcome lodgers in their beds – the number of reports of bed bugs there has increased fourfold.
The bugs often crawl into luggage or rugsacks while people are on holiday, and then creep back out once home. Ruud van Lare from pest controller Excellent - based in the Dutch coastal town of Zandvoort, some 34 kilometres outside of Amsterdam – says his company is called out twice or three times a week nowadays to deal with complaints about bed bugs. Five years ago, that was virtually unheard of.
“Most of the calls we get are from student residences, but also hotels and private homes. We’ve also heard from other pest control companies that they’ve noticed an increase in the number of calls about bed bugs.”
Strong pesticides
“Bed bugs aren’t new – they were around in Roman times,” says Bert Spierings, spokesman for the Dutch pest control association (NVPB).
“By using strong pesticides like DDT, the bed bug was eradicated in the West after World War II. The problem is that we’re not permitted to use these pesticides anymore.”
Mr Spierings says it’s very easy to detect whether or not you have bone fide bed bugs in your home.
“If you have really bad itching first thing in the morning, particularly in your legs, then you’ve probably been bitten. If you’re not sure, pull back the sheets and covers. If you see red spots at the point on the bed linen where your legs were – red dots about 4 to 5 millimetres apart – then they’re the drops of blood from your legs.”
Itching
The chance of becoming ill from bed bugs is slim. You’re likely to suffer irritating itching, rashes and bite marks. “People who have bed bugs often feel dirty,” Mr Spierings continues. “They feel like showering all day long.”
Accommodation in and around Amsterdam Schiphol Airport suffers particularly from infestation because a lot of travellers stay in these hotels. “Most hotels are well-informed about what to do if there are complaints about bed bugs,” says Mr Spierings. All rooms next to, above and below bug-ridden rooms must also be treated.
Ruud van Lare advises travellers not to leave luggage open too long when abroad. Bugs can also get into clothes:
“Make sure you check clothes hanging in hotel room wardrobes before packing them back into your bags. Once you’re home, try to wash your clothes in hot water - 60 degrees. I know not all clothing is suited to a high-temperature wash, but it’s the only way to stop the spread of the bugs.”
Forget spray cans
If bed bugs have crept into your house, it’s best to call in the services of a professional pest eradication company. Trying to eliminate them yourself with an aerosol spray is usually pointless. An official pest control company would normally have to come two or three times to get rid of the mites for good. And getting rid of these little monsters doesn’t come cheap – about 600 euros for an average four-roomed house.
Lead photo from Flickr/Pete Edin (see photo link): all further use subject to this CC licence
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Thanks for your article on bed bugs. It's something i've been looking out for recently. I found some information on what bed bug bites look like on Bed Bugs Handbook.
It was a terrible experience. When I pull up the mattress, I saw hundreds of these bed bugs moving around. They are trying to hide, because it seems like they are afraid of the light.
I’ve got these bed bugs for almost a year. I keep spraying and washing my cloths. I even threw away lots of my cloths.
That was a really expensive experience, not the mention the lack of sleep that I had for many days.
I
Here is my advice when you have bed bugs:
Don’t throw away your mattress immediately; otherwise someone else can get bed bugs.
1. Buy 3 cans of bed bug spray (you really need that)
2. Spray your mattress
3. Seal your mattress with thick plastic mattress cover
(must NOT have any holes, otherwise they can get in and bit you again)
4. Find the bed bugs in your bed frame and kill them
5. Spray your bed frame every day for at least 1 week
6. Wash your bed sheets and blankets with HOT water
7. Wash all your clothes with HOT water
8. Dry your clothes in heater (heat can kill bed bugs)
9. After cleaning, put your cloths in a plastic bag with air zip
10. Put your bags of cloths in the middle of your house
11. These are just the basic steps, bed bugs can still hide in the holes and cracks of your wall.
12. There is more…
Bed bugs may cure AIDS
Agence France-Presse
September 03, 2010First Published: 13:35 IST(3/9/2010)
Last Updated: 16:49 IST(3/9/2010)
One of the most resilient pests, bed bugs might actually have a brighter side to them as a recent experiment revealed that bed bugs have the ability to kill the AIDS virus. The New York Times (NYT) recently reported that bed bugs have feasted on AIDS blood and killed the virus. "South African researchers have fed them blood with the AIDS virus, but the virus died."
The blog Gawker added this "confirm[s] the insects are practically indestructible. Why can't we reverse bio-engineer that process and cure AIDS?" Perhaps something good could come from the bed bug resurgence.
Apparently researchers have also "shown that [bed] bugs can retain hepatitis B virus for weeks, but when they bite chimpanzees, the infection does not take."
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