Keep Bedbugs at Bay Over the Holidays

Editor's Note: This story originally published in Beverly Hills Patch. We wanted to share the news with Hermosa Beach residents.

Take note when you travel: bedbugs are hitchhikers. The bloodsucking critters like to latch onto luggage for a free ride to wherever your destination may be.

Professionals aren't sure how bedbugs got to the local area but data from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and Terminix, a national pest control company, show that reports of infestations peaked across the county during the summer travel season.

This summer, bedbugs appeared "from Laguna Hills to the San Luis Obispo/Santa Barbara County line, and as far east as the Inland Empire," said Todd Veden, a Terminix technical specialist in Southern California.

Although he did not confirm the exact whereabouts of reported infestations, Veden said, "in the West L.A. area we get regular calls."

But "data is showing us that the numbers are coming down," said Brenda Lopez, the L.A. County Department of Public Health's environmental health services manager for the central and west areas of L.A. County.

Veden isn't as optimistic.

"I think it's probably going to get worse before it gets better," Veden said of the local bedbug presence, which he notes has worsened with increased international travel in recent years. "It's rapidly breeding and spreading, and hard to detect."

Bedbugs, when full grown, are about the size of an apple seed. They get their name from their propensity to set up shop in mattresses—in the ribbing and creases, under buttons and along zippers. Bedbugs are known to feast on sleeping humans, and are attracted to warmth and movement (see accompanying document).

Ohio claims the highest number of reported infestations, but each year New York City has more and more cases. In 2004, for example, there were 537 complaints, but by 2009 there were 11,000, according to Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration.

"They cross all socioeconomic lines. Cleanliness is not a factor," Veden said of bedbug infestations. "We've seen them in swanky hotels and homeless shelters. It's a blood meal that they want and they'll take that from everybody."

Bedbugs don't stay confined to beds. They can burrow between floorboards, in clothing and even books, and can survive for months between feedings, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

But there is one small silver lining. "There doesn't seem to be any conclusive evidence that bedbugs spread disease," Veden said.

Veden warns locals to seek professional advice immediately if they think they might have a bedbug problem. Below, he shares some ideas for both travelers and homeowners to help stop the problem.

Tips for travelers:

1. The important thing is being able to recognize a bedbug and the dark fecal blood spots it leaves behind. Look at the mattresses and nightstands in the hotels you visit for this telltale sign.
2. Do not set your suitcase on hotel beds or furniture.
3. Keep clothes in your suitcase rather than putting them in a drawer.
4. When you get home, leave your suitcase in the garage. Run your clothes through a hot wash and dry cycle, and vacuum out the suitcase.

Tips for homeowners:

1.  If you're buying items for your home at an antique store, inspect them carefully.
2.  Buy a new bed. Never get one off the sidewalk.
3. Don't pick up used furniture on the curb.
4. If you're going to throw something out after an infestation, wrap it in plastic and put a sign on it that says "Bedbugs."
5. If you have an item you're going to try to preserve after an infestation, quarantine it and have someone professionally treat it.
6. Get a mattress encasement that zips closed.

Lopez wants people to know that bedbugs are treatable so long as the proper action is taken.

"It's not only eliminating the infestation, but also the cleaning and vacuuming of the sites," she said. "People have to eliminate all of the harboring sites."