Permethrin Bed Bugs
Vacation Traveler’s Guide to Bed Bugs
Author: Douglas Stern
With spring break nearly here and summer vacation just around the corner, families are gearing up for vacation travel. Nobody minds bringing home a little sand in their shoes after an idyllic week lounging on the beach, but there's nothing that takes the joy out of a vacation like unpacking a few bed bugs along with the swimsuits.
Opera singer Alison Trainer got bed bugs while staying at an upscale Phoenix hotel in 2007. She told ABC News that when she woke up in the middle of the night, "They were all over the bed and the comforter and the pillows and I pulled the sheets off and they were just everywhere."
"They're like little vampires, like stealth feeders at nighttime," Michael Raupp, University of Maryland professor of entomology, told ABC News in the same report. While many people wake up with itchy red bites the next morning, nearly 50% of bed bug victims don't react. You may not know you've been sharing a bed with these blood-sucking insects until you return home from vacation.
According to a 2004 survey of pest control professionals by Pest Control Technology magazine, hotels and motels were the most common sites of bed bug infestations, accounting for more than one-third of bed bug complaints. Bed bugs are brought into hotels by guests; they are not a sanitation issue. These adept hitchhikers travel in luggage and on clothing. They hide in and near beds to be near their prey, the unsuspecting traveler. While they don't transmit disease, bed bugs feed on human blood and can traumatize their victims, causing anxiety, stress and insomnia. About the size of an apple seed, bed bugs have flat, oval, wingless bodies that are light to reddish-brown in color.
Nearly eradicated in the 1950s, the banning of DDT coupled with increased international travel has caused the resurgence of bed bugs in all 50 states. Hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, hostels, resorts and cruise ships provide perfect breeding and transmission sites for these nuisance pests. Many tourist cities including New York, Boston, Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles, Honolulu and San Francisco have been waging war against an increasing number of bed bug complaints from tourists and residents. Concern about negative impact on the tourist industry has pushed several states to consider bed bug legislation.
Bed bugs are a vexing problem for the hospitality industry. Rooms that were pest-free one night can be infected by a guest the next. Infestations often go undetected, spreading to adjacent rooms through vents, ducts, plumbing conduits, even by housekeeping staff. When bed bugs are discovered, today's safer pest control chemicals require repeat applications. Infected rooms may be insufficiently treated before being assigned to new guests.
There's no reason to stop vacationing, travelers just need to take a few precautions to avoid bringing bed bugs home.
Before booking your hotel, check traveler reviews on popular bed bug reporting websites: TripAdvisor.com, BedBugRegistry.com and HotelChatter.com. Pack belongings in snap and seal storage bags and consider protecting your mattresses and box springs with bed bug-proof encasements in case you bring bed bugs home.
Before leaving home spray your luggage inside and out with a bed bug control luggage spray. We sell one by JT Eaton and consider this Permethrin based product an innovation for travelers.
When checking in, inspect the room. Remove linens and check the mattress, particularly seams and welts, for live bugs, shed exoskeletons and black or rusty fecal stains. Use a flashlight to look behind the headboard, picture frames, in drawers, along baseboards. If you see signs of bed bugs, ask for another room or go to a different hotel.
While at the hotel, keep your suitcase and possessions off the bed, floor and upholstered furniture. Store suitcases on luggage racks or tables and keep them closed. Don't lay clothing on the bed. Hang purses in the closet.
If you suspect bed bugs or develop itchy red welts, notify the hotel management immediately. Ask for another room in a different part of the building or check into a different hotel. Trap bed bugs in a pill bottle or sealed plastic bag to show the manager. When you return home, immediately call a pest control professional before unpacking. Other insects are often mistaken for bed bugs and bed bug bites are similar to those from mosquitoes and other insects. A pest control professional can correctly identify your problem.
On returning home, unpack in a garage, cleared laundry area or bathtub, not on the bed. Inspect your suitcase and contents for signs of bed bugs. Sort clothing into plastic bags that can be emptied directly into the washer. Wash and dry (for 60 minutes) at hottest settings. Vacuum suitcases and store away from bedroom. Immediately dispose of vacuum bag and storage bags in outside receptacle. Items that can't be laundered can be sealed in plastic bags and frozen for two weeks or placed in a hot, closed car for 2 hours.
A new product has just hit the market called Packtite that is an enclosed heating chamber made for frequent travelers. This new product allows you to place your entire piece of packed luggage in the heating chamber and kill bed bugs and eggs before even unpacking. Although this product is not for everyone, for business travelers or families that travel abroad frequently the product is worth strong consideration.
For the next couple of weeks check your mattress for bed bug signs. Call a pest control professional immediately if you see any signs of bed bugs.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-tips-articles/vacation-travelers-guide-to-bed-bugs-824542.html
About the Author
Douglas Stern is the managing partner of Stern Environmental Group and a bed bug extermination expert. His firm serves commercial and residential clients in New Jersey, New York City, New York, and Connecticut. His firm is located at 100 Plaza Drive in Secaucus, New Jersey. You can reach him toll free at 1-888-887-8376. Please visit us on the Web at www.SternEnvironmental.com.
February 7, 2012
6:09 am
Hey how are ya, Patrick from footprintsdownunder here, No1 they don’t work pretty much at all. 2 bed bugs eat through wood so they dont mind biting through cloth, some of the chemical barriers provide some protection but not much.
Sun light is the answer for killing them off your stuff if you are unlucky enough to pick them up.
Remember hostels and backpackers are pretty much clean and it is the backpacker that brings the bed bugs in from travelling.
Keep your stuff washed and hang it out in hot bright sun to dry.
If you do come across an infested hostel and they are not quarantining the rooms, than move out and complain about the hostel on footprintsdownunder
Hope that helps a little
February 7, 2012
6:09 am
definately unless you want eating alive
February 7, 2012
6:09 am
Do a google search on the safety of the product your talking about, you may get some answers there. You could call the poison control center, they answer all sorts of questions – I once called about a light stick exploding at my work station (first time pregnant and a little paranoid lol). Anyway they should have an answer for you on any chemical and whether it could harm your babies. OSHA is also a good choice as mentioned above. If you asked for a safety statement, and they refuse, that’s just ridiculous and I wouldn’t want them in my apartment either. You could get a hold of a tenant lawyer – do one of those free-consultations and see what they’re allowed to do, some of them do it over the phone – my husband found one online where you leave a typed message and they call you back, his was the same day. I don’t know how this works there, but at our apartments, we have the option of leaving a note on the door when they do the Orkin bug spraying saying “Please don’t spray this apartment” and they respect it by not coming in – we also have a chain on the door so that helps. Good luck – maybe you could tell them that either they give you assurance in SOME sort of paperwork that the product they’re going to use is safe, or they can pay for you and your babies to stay at a hotel for a day while it dries. lol. And the whole bagging everything up part is what gets me, if the spray shouldn’t touch your objects why on earth would it be okay for it to touch your kids (unless its ONLY bedding/stuffed animal type stuff and its a way of killing off any bed-bugs like the way you do with headlice). This is a trick one…good luck to you!
February 7, 2012
6:09 am
sounds like Morgellons. Log onto Morgellons.org and show tour doctor . He may not be abreast to this illness. 14 doctors later I am a bit better but the state took my son cause instead of being open minded the docs said I was crazy . I am sorry to break this too you . But like Mary your a good mom and I am here by email if any suggestions I can offer will be helpful. no treatment or doctors for this right now .Just us . Blessings to you and don’t go to thew thousands of cure sights or mogellons message boards . there is only heartaches and sick people there . stick with us who got better but not totally over it. perhaps we can meet by phone sometime I’d like that ( huggs) a mom here too Moe
February 7, 2012
6:09 am
Your best bet would be to see a dermatologist, or at least your doctor.
Try an antihistamine cream on them, or take an oral antihistamne. Speak to a pharmacist if you decide on tablets as tsome (like Benadryl) can make you drowsy.
They sound more like an allergy than anything else, especially as there is no rash above the neck ie it’s only on parts that clothes or bedclothes touch.
You seem to have taken all the recommended steps re soap, laundry stuff.
Have you tried a non biological unperfumed detergent labelled sensitive? Same with soap?
Doctor and /or dermatologist I think.
May 17, 2007
6:19 pm
dermatitis?
My son have a skin rash last week and the doctor said it might be scabies but I have been in my new apartment for one year and I know how scabies and bed bugs bites look like so I didn’t believe that. They gave him a cream called “permethrin 5%” which instead of son get better his skin got worst. Now he have the rash in his face, butt, all over his body. Today they had send me to a dermatologist. That is to find out what is it that exactly what he has. And on the referral I saw that they put diagnosis “dermatitis”. I just need to know if scabies bites is different than beg bugs and how it looks like. Thank you for your help.
May 27, 2007
5:54 am
Are bed bug barriers useful when backpacking?
Going travelling to SE Asia and would like to know from experienced travellers if it is worth it to purchase a bed bug barrier / sheet impregnated with permethrin to protect against bed bug bites when sleeping in hostels?
Do they actually work? Thanks in advance
May 27, 2007
5:57 am
Are bed bug barriers / impregnated sheets useful when backpacking?
Are bed bug barriers useful when backpacking?
Going travelling to SE Asia and would like to know from experienced travellers if it is worth it to purchase a bed bug barrier / sheet impregnated with permethrin to protect against bed bug bites when sleeping in hostels?
Do they actually work? Thanks in advance
October 4, 2008
4:04 am
mom of 2 babies need some help about bed bugs..?
heeeeellllllllppppp…..one of the neighbour got bedbugs and managment asked us to come next 3 days to spray Permethrin..I have 2 babies /18 months and 3 months …we dont have bedbugs but they say if they spray the suspect unit those nassty insect ganna move to others …should I let them ..?I asked them to asure and gimme a warranty that it wont be harmfull but they didnt accept…I m a tenant in ontario ,,can I not let them to come in?they asked us to pack up everything in plastic and the bad thing is we just moved in 2 months agi ..its like a new moving out….help please..
April 22, 2010
7:56 am
What are these itchy, bumpy patches?
My entire family has bumpy, itchy patches that look like red, raised goosebumps. They get itchier at night, after scratching or with heat. They are not blotchy, do not look like pimples, and generally do not look pus-filled. We have NO irritation above the neck or in the folds of the skin (between fingers, toes, armpits, crotch, etc)…
Because it seemed like an allergic reaction, we changed laundry detergent, shampoo and soaps, vacuumed, swept and cleaned and washed all clothing and bedding… It did not help.
Because it seemed like scabies, everyone put on a premethrin cream (specifically for scabies) and re-washed bedding and clothing, re-vacuumed and sprayed furniture and pets with permethrin.
While scabies (or some other mite) seems like a good match, we have found no burrows or bugs (we spend lots of time looking at things under a microscope), and there is no irritation between folds.
It’s now been 4 days after treatment and the itchyness is just getting worse on all of us. What can this possibly be?