Banish the bed bug bites

Banish the bed bug bites
By admin


According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S Environmental Protection Agency, the US is experiencing an alarming increase in the number of bedbugs.

While they are an increasing problem in the US, they are also found across the world, in private residences and increasingly affecting hotels, hospitals and schools. Travellers are often the most common people at risk, which is why it is especially important to lookout for signs of bedbugs.

“Although bedbugs don’t usually require serious medical attention, they can cause a great deal of anxiety and restless nights,” said dermatologist Seemal R. Desai, MD, FAAD,

 “The most common sign of bedbugs is having bite marks on your body, which can sometimes turn into itchy welts” said Desai.

The last thing you want on your getaway is to find yourself covered in irritable bites from often undetected bed bugs.  To avoid this, the American academy of dermatology has shared some helpful hints on how to check for bedbugs.

Look for the following signs near places where you sleep:

1.A sweet, musty odour
If you notice a sweet, musty odour in your sleeping area, there may be a heavy bedbug infestation in the room. Bedbugs produce chemicals to help them communicate, although not everyone will notice the smell.

2.Specks of blood on bedding, mattresses or upholstered furniture
Look carefully at your blankets, sheets and mattress pads, and then check the mattress and box spring. If there is specks of blood present, especially near the seams there could be an infestation.

3.Exoskeletons
Bedbugs have an outer shell that they shed and leave behind. If you see shell-like remains on the mattress, mattress pad or beneath couch cushions then steer clear.

4.Tiny, blackish specks
If you see blackish specks on the bedding, mattress or headboard  it could be bedbug excrement

5.Eggs
After mating, female bedbugs lay white, oval eggs in cracks and crevices. Keep in mind that these will be small, as a bedbug is only about the size of an apple seed. 

"Bedbug_and_Eggs.jpg"

Small pest: a bedbug and its eggs

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Effect of bedbugs: bite marks left by the bug

Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

bedbugs

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