Bedbugs are nocturnal creatures that live in mattresses, bedding, pillows etc. and feed on human blood. Although they do not transmit diseases to people, they can cause stinging itching or allergic reactions, as well as emotional and mental stress. Also, according to a 2011 Canadian study, bedbugs can carry germs from one person to another, including antibiotic-resistant germs, e.g. Staphylococcus aureus.
If you have had bed bugs in the house, you certainly know that it is difficult to get rid of them without professional help and it is better to do everything you can to prevent them from returning and re-infesting your home. You have to be careful especially when you travel, because you can bring bed bugs home from the places where you were accommodated.
- When you stay at a hotel, leave your luggage in the bathroom until you carefully check the room. In the bathroom it is the least likely to find bedbugs, as they do not like places with tiles and other smooth surfaces, because they not offer them too many places to hide. They generally prefer bedrooms.
- Inspect the bed. Remove the bed linen and check around the bed, under the mattress and behind the bed sheet. Look for blood stains or small blackheads that look like mold or pepper. The bedbugs are the size and shape of an apple seed and you can find them hidden in the corners or in the bedding seams.
- Check the room. Expand your search to the area near the bed: behind the photo frames, under the phone and alarm clock, and even in books that lay around. Studies have shown that most bedbugs can be found up to 15 meters away from a bed, but some may be even further away. Check the cushions and seams of sofas and soft chairs, as well as inside closets and cabinets.
- Keep luggage away from the ground. If you leave your suitcases on the floor, or even on a bed, you risk bringing home an unpleasant souvenir. Bedbugs can travel from one room to another. Even if you didn’t initially discover them, they could be in the next room and they will definitely come looking for food. During the trip, keep your luggage in a closet. For extra protection, keep it covered in plastic. This precaution can protect things not only in the hotel room, but also in busy places – bedbugs can also hide in planes, trains, and taxis.
- Teach your children to protect themselves from bedbugs. Explain them why you are inspecting the hotel room and what you are looking for. Traces of white dust could be a pesticide used to repel bedbugs. If you find something like this, it is very possible that the hotel staff know there a problem with bedbugs. Young children in particular should be protected from contact with pesticides, so if you discover traces of chemicals, move away.
- For locating bed bugs Denver, use quality pest control companies. Not only will the specialists get rid of them, but they will also make further checks to make sure that these pests will not return.