Bed bugs are a nuisance, but to a healthy person, they are not threatening to ones health. DDT would be a huge overreaction.
Don't tell that to one of my dd's friends at camp a few years ago. It took her over 6 months to deal with the bites that covered most of her body. And we won't go into the infections that ensued!!!
For the most part, after looking into the history of bed bugs in the United States...they were pretty much obsolete because of the used of chemicals like DDt. In aroudn 1996, something was signed that completely banned this chemical and other harmful pesticides. Since then beg bugs have been on the rise in the US again. It basically comes from foreign travelers. Once they have brought them back to the US people didn't realize that they needed to look out for them. Realistically, as a kid I always thought "don't let the bed bugs bite" was a saying. Then, in my 20s after waking up with bed bug bite welts all over, I learned it is in fact not just a saying.
Some people aren't allergic to the bites(just as some aren't allergic to poison ivy...me=allerigc to bed bug bites but not poison ivy-ask me how I know). If you aren't getting a reaction to bites, and you don't know to look for them at all you might not even notice it. Also, you can pick them up in movie theaters, people's homes, cabs, airplanes, etc. So really someone might not be infested at their own house, but picked it up in transportation to their hotel.
That's pretty accurate!!!
This bed bug thing is over played, just a bug....
Like mosquitoes.
Nope. Not really. There is no way anyone, not even you I would assume, wants to get into a bed that is home to bedbugs. The bites are unbelievable itchy. It really impacts your life. and it takes awhile for the bites to go away....it's not just a few days.
My dd's camp had two different episodes of bedbugs. The first time, the girl in the top of the bunk, over my dd, was covered with bites after their first night at camp!! She looked like she has measles. My dd had some bites but mostly on her upper arms. The director knew exactly what it was...the housing was cleared, the girls were told hand over everything they had brought with them. They gave their pj's first so that the counselors could wash those first and then the girls would have something 'clean' to sleep in. They washed every sheet, every pillow, every bit of clothing. Even my dd's favorite bear was sent through the drier!!! The kids were put in another building and given their belongings the next day.
Every single wooden bunk was taken out and destroyed...huge bonfire that night!!!
Again a few years later...but to a much lesser extent. Now, when dd comes home from camp, her stuff stays in the garage, and goes directly into the wash, highest possible water temp, and into the dryer..again, hottest available. The duffle bags do into a large green trash bag and into the trunk of the car for a week or so.That way, if anything hitched home, it's now dead!!!
All it takes is one bag to pick up bedbugs at an airport. Or for a traveler to put their bags down and have bugs jump on for the trip. Then, all the bags are now subjected to bedbugs. All you have to do is touch something else with the dang things on it. Then, into the resort room they go. They will hide out for a bit. Then, out they come and hide in the bedding. I doubt any of the housekeepers are doing an adequate job of looking for bedbugs when cleaning rooms. They should, but they probably don't!!
So, I check for myself. My bags don't get unpacked until I've checked out those mattress seams and along the baseboards and behind headboards if at all possible.
