If you ignore the problem, bed bugs will reproduce and multiply and can quickly infest your entire house, from couches to carpets and even clothing. Once this happens you have a big problem that can get costly to get rid of.
In most situations, even situations where a house is left unoccupied for extended periods of time, we still recommend exterminating bed bugs as quickly as possible to prevent a larger infestation and damage to furniture, and to ensure that they are gone for good.
Since bed bugs can go a significant amount of time without eating it is strongly recommend that if you decide to vacate your home that you do so for an extended period of time. This will ensure that all of the bugs will die due to the lack of food source and the treatments provided by the exterminator.
Don't count on bed bugs to go away on their own. In theory, they can. In practice, they don't unless several highly specific circumstances occur. Your best bet is professional bed bugs treatment.
Bedbug bites usually clear up without treatment in a week or two. Bedbugs aren't known to spread disease, but they can cause an allergic reaction or a severe skin reaction in some people.
Most people do not realize they have been bitten until bite marks appear anywhere from one to several days after the initial bite. The bite marks are similar to that of a mosquito or a flea — a slightly swollen and red area that may itch and be irritating. The bite marks may be random or appear in a straight line.
Effects ranging from no reaction to a small bite mark to, in rare cases, anaphylaxis (severe, whole-body reaction). Secondary infections of the skin from the bite reaction, such as impetigo , ecthyma , and lymphangitis . Mental health impacts on people living in infested homes.
Heat is known to be a very effective bed bug killer and it can be used in many different ways to treat infestations. For instance, heat in the form of steam can be used to treat bed bugs in carpets, behind base boards and on upholstered furniture.
Bed bugs can also infest other furniture besides beds. You may find bed bugs in couches, sofas or easy chairs. These are all places where people spend time in one position, such as while napping or watching TV. Bed bugs can also be found in luggage and clothing (the main way they come home with you after a trip).
Mattresses and pillows make potential habitats for bed bugs. Pillows may also be host to bed bug eggs, making them a potential point of bed bug infestations. A possible sign that bed bugs have infested pillows may be the appearance of bites.
Avoid visiting until you know they've had professional bed bug treatment. Get your own home inspected for bed bugs immediately.
Do Bed Bugs Usually Stay In One Room? Since bed bugs do not have wings and do not jump, some people incorrectly assume that they tend to stay in one room and not travel much. However, this is not true. Bed bugs move around quickly and seek any place where they can find their next blood meal (i.e. humans).
Clean and kill
Alongside any professional treatment, you should clean infested areas and kill any bedbugs you find. Using an upholstery attachment, thoroughly vacuum your mattress and box spring, focusing on seams, crevices, and folds.
Thoroughly wash and clean all the surfaces in your home, especially in your kitchen and bathroom. Vacuum your entire home every day for at least four days following treatment. If your vacuum cleaner requires a bag, only use disposable bags and throw it away in an outdoor garbage can immediately after vacuuming.
Bed bugs live primarily indoors, giving them the heat they need to survive the winter. As long as they have a food source as well as the warmth they need, they'll happily remain active in your home throughout the year. If they don't have a food source, they can go for several months without eating and still survive.
Mattresses are certainly a prime location to find bed bugs, but is, by no means, the only place these bugs will live or hide. They have been found in couches, chairs, love seats, rugs, behind baseboards, in outlets and even inside electronics.
Most bed bug infestations see between 4 and 200 specimens within a home, but it is not uncommon for pest control professionals to treat homes containing well over 1,000 bed bug specimens. One recent infestation in a Tampa home saw more than 5,000 bed bug specimens beneath just one single bed.
Although bed bugs certainly prefer living in mattresses, they can infest carpet, too! Instead of burrowing into the carpet, the bugs will stay close to the surface. This makes it easier to vacuum them up!
Place a source of heat in the room. Since body heat attracts bed bugs, it would be a nice trick to lure them out with a device set at the same temperature. Release some carbon dioxide near their hiding spots. Bed bugs find this gas irresistible, as it signifies that a person is sleeping nearby.
Bed bugs are easy to kill using heat. Their thermal death point is reported to be 114-115° F. Putting infested clothing in a hot dryer is an excellent way of killing bed bugs and their eggs. Heat can also be used to kill bed bugs and their eggs in furniture and carpeting.
Steam vapour may be used on all soft and hard surfaces especially on seams and in little crevices. Washing in water above 60ºC (to ensure every bug stage will be killed) and drying infested linen in a dryer is an effective method of killing bed bugs.
While bedbugs are a nuisance and can be upsetting, they aren't known to transmit disease (their biology is a little different from bloodsucking insects that do transmit disease).
How can bed bugs get into my home? They can come from other infested areas or from used furniture. They can hitch a ride in luggage, purses, backpacks, or other items placed on soft or upholstered surfaces. They can travel between rooms in multi-unit buildings, such as apartment complexes and hotels.
Light Bed Bug Infestation
Minimal fecal staining (small black stains in areas of travel, feeding, and harborage). Fecal stains will be anywhere the bed bugs hide or travel and can be used to detect hot spots. Minimal cast skins (exuviae are the skins shed during the molting process).
But if you're handling things at home, there's really no reason to bring it up at the office. Unless you spot a bed bug at work, in which case you should definitely talk to someone so the situation can be addressed.