Bottom line: bed bugs are simply not the travel scourge your mother thinks they are for student travelers and backpackers. Bed bugs don't transmit disease and hostels don't harbor 'em any more than do hoity hotels (which, in fact, do occasionally host the buggers). Let's lay some myths to rest and learn that bed bugs are not the ultimate bane of backpackers and student travelers, as well as how to identify bed bugs, bed bug sign in lodgings, treat bed bug bites, how to avoid bedbugs in lodgings and kill bedbugs if they decide to travel with you (they're worldly little things).

Hostels have no more bed bug incidents than do other lodgings. Greg Baumann, vice president of technical services at National Pest Management says, "There are no data to support that hostels have a higher incidence of bed bugs (than hotels)." (Nonetheless, some folks, like your mother, will always fear hostels are bed bug hotbeds.)

In 2005, bed bugs became a hot travel topic when they started turning up in some pretty posh digs. They had virtually disappeared from the US lodging scene until a 1972 DDT insecticide ban; the spray once used on cockroaches and other pests turned out to have been an effective way to kill bed bugs, too. A favorite cockroach catching method became traps rather than DDT, and a subsequent resurgence of bed bugs meant guests were being bitten in fine hotels, where (according to some accounts) the staff routinely denied the critters' presence. In Europe, the bugs never really left, according to Orkin spokesperson Martha Craft -- one reason that hostels, which are most common in Europe, know all about the little blood eaters.

Canada's Pest Control writes of bed bug hotel infestations: "The stigma attached to these parasites is influencing some hotels and other accommodations to ignore infestations or treat them without professional help. Lack of professional treatment comes with great risks, notably the possibility of litigation." Reading between the lines, we can deduce that there's no way in Hades some hotels will agree that those red bumps on your body are bed bug evidence -- and a US desk clerk may not even know what bed bug bites really look like, anyway.

Hostels, on the other hand, have long acknowledged the bugs' presence in the lodging world, especially outside the United States, and many take steps accordingly. Some actively tell you what to look for (read more on spotting bed bugs), and some hostels don't allow sleeping bags or sleep sacks in hostel dorms partly because yours can carry bed bugs (they like traveling as much as you do). Bed bugs also hitchhike on backpacks -- be careful if you bring your bag into your hostel dorm. (See some tips on avoiding bedbugs in hostels.)

And, of course, many folks assume the bugs come with the territory of filthy hostels (another myth -- that all hostels are filthy by nature). Bed bugs don't care about clean, though.

Where some truth may lie in the hostels-always-have-bedbugs myth is that the sheer density of people possible in one hostel dorm room can create a higher possibility of the bugs' appearance than in a hotel room used by a couple of travelers at a time, according to Baumann. If twelve backpackers are sleeping in one room, twelve chances are created for bugs to hop off one backpacker's stuff and into yours, or into the hostel dorm furniture. (Bed bugs do like to sleep around, and they can be found in chairs as easily as in beds.) Again, though, there is no evidence to support the idea that hostels are more prone to infestation than other lodgings; in fact, given the higher likelihood of infestation and bed bug transference in a hostel because of sheer traveler numbers, it's remarkable that that likelihood does not translate into an actual higher infestation incidence in hostels than hotels.

Let's move to the next page to learn about bed bug bites and disease (another myth).

"The rewards of the journey far outweigh the risk of leaving the harbor."

--Unknown

Return to Hostels - Return to Student Travel Health - Return to Student Travel

Nobody wants to have 'em, but if you've seen 'em, let the management -- and fellow travelers -- know: tell us all about it here!

Do bedbugs carry disease? Well, bedbugs carry 24 known pathogens, according to Baumann. Do bedbugs transmit disease? Nope, bed bug bites won't make you sick unless, of course, the bites get infected. Baumann says that the World Health Organization (WHO) conducted research in Africa which produced no documentation that the little ankle biters can transmit disease.

Mosquitos, on the other hand, can carry plenty of creepy crud like malaria and West Nile disease, which they transmit to you via science fiction-like needle nose. (Yeah, ewww. We didn't ask for the proboscis probe.) Bedbugs do feed on blood, but they don't spread AIDS or other blood-borne illnesses. (In fact, no bugs spread AIDS, according to Baumann.)

That's not to say bedbugs and bed bug bites aren't a disgusting drag.

A bed bug bite looks like a small welt, and it burns and/or itches, according to the Adam Health Center. Red bumps that sting and/or itch like crazy, would be how bed bug bite victims describe it. You can't feel a bed bug bite while it happens (they take about five minutes to feed), and the bugs are nocturnal. So, then, they can feed peacefully while you sleep. Isn't Mother Nature just such a smartie?

Check out the bed bug bite picture at right to see just what a bed bug bite looks like, lest you have a red welt and wonder.

Adam Health Center also tells us to wash a bed bug bite with soap and water, apply some ice and use an antihistamine cream or no-itch cream. (Do check out Brave Soldier antiseptic goop. It rocks the best no-itch, no infection, no-scar wound treatment around. Read a Brave Soldier review and then consider letting Brave Soldier guard your borders -- I always carry a tube in my travel first aid kit.)

And if a bed bug bite gets infected while you're traveling (gets very tender and starts oozing yellow, white or greenish goo), you should consider seeing a doctor. I've seen doctors abroad when I'm sick -- it's been easier and less expensive for me than seeing US doctors, and I got well.

By the way, here's a fun fact, courtesy of Baumann: female insects are normally the feeders, but both genders of bed bug bite because they need the blood meal (ewww again) to shed their shells.

Let's move to the next page to learn about bedbugs and unsanitary conditions. (And -- have you had bedbug bites? Tell us about it!)

Bedbugs are gross, no doubt about it. Thinking about creatures crawling around in your bed and eating your blood is a real shudder inducer. That actually happens all the time, though -- the creatures looking for your blood, that is (think mosquitos). It might be the fact that bedbugs kinda scuttle that make 'em seem especially disgusto, and bed bugs are nocturnal -- creatures that scuttle at night just seem particularly sneaky, despite having microscopic brains and no personality characteristics to speak of.

The presence of bedbugs in a hostel or hotel don't mean the joint is unsanitary, though, according to Baumann. Cockroaches, ants, flies -- they all love old food. Bedbugs like fresh food. A dirty hostel does not attract bedbugs simply by virtue of its grime -- that's not how they pick new destinations.

The beasties hitchhike into hostels, hotels and, eventually, your own house, by way of your stuff -- your clothes, your sleeping bag or sleep sack, your backpack. They grab a ride out the same way. They don't get together in an underground bedbug lair and report on the latest gross place where they can have a party.

As Baumann says of unsanitary conditions, "Bedbugs don't really care about that, and can be in the fanciest of hotels all the way to the other end of the spectrum." He goes on to say that while the whole bedbug infestation, cleanliness-impaired hotel equation is popular, there is no data to support it.

The single connection that could be possibly be made between the bugs and unsanitary habits would be that a bedbug killing recommendation is washing possessions in very hot water. Perhaps that's how the myth started -- but no one, anywhere, ever washes their curtains in boiling water every day in order to keep a clean house. (Do they?)

Let's move to the next page to learn how to (sort of) spot those sneaky, night-scuttling, plotting, scheming bugs in hotels and hostels.

It's tough to kill bed bugs on your own; learn some tips on how to avoid and kill bed bugs while traveling, and how to uninvite them permanently if they want to stay for dinner once you get home. Key: think professional exterminators before spending big bucks battling the buggers with sprays. Let's look at some of the bugs' habits before learning about how to kill bed bugs.

The bugs hitch rides in baggage, sleep sacks or sleeping bags. They jump from hotel to hostel to home on humans -- someone brought 'em to your lodging, albeit accidentally. And they all want to be exchange bugs, traveling internationally.

 

You'll likely notice bites before and if you see the biters themselves, unless you see the telltale streaks on your sheets; the bugs are nocturnal and they hide out unless feeding.

And they're tough customers. According to the National Pest Management organization, they can live more than a year without eating; taking a vacation in hopes the bugs will then move out won't work. They can take the temps, too; the bugs are okay with freezing to Fahrenheit 113.

If you see bug sign when you get into a hotel or hostel room, consider grabbing your stuff before bugs hop on and cruising straight back to the desk to ask for a new room, and tell 'em why. (Read more about what some desk clerks' responses to a bug claim may be.)

Even if you don't see sign, don't put your backpack on the bed or other furniture in order to lessen chances of the bugs hopping on. If the room has a suitcase stand, use it.

If you've got bites, or you know you've spent time in a room harboring the bugs, vacuum your suitcases, backpack, camera bag -- leave no seam unsucked. Wash everything you own in the hottest water possible to boil the little biters.

 

Look for bug sign in your room; ask for another room or leave

Don't put luggage on any furniture (yeah, the tub works)

Kill bed bugs by washing everything in hot, hot water and vacuuming your bags inside and out, including seams

 

The same rules on how to kill bed bugs while traveling apply at home: vaccum your living space relentlessly, including furniture, changing the bag outside (hatchlings can wiggle through a stitch hole). Wash or dry clean everything moveable (clothes, bedspreads, throw rugs) in hottest water. If one happy couple escapes, though, it's all for naught.

Baumann points out that people pay plenty trying various home remedies that don't go so well, and recommends that you bite the bullet and foot the bill for an exterminator to begin with.

It's tough to kill bed bugs on your own; learn some tips on how to avoid and kill bed bugs while traveling, and how to uninvite them permanently if they want to stay for dinner once you get home. Key: think professional exterminators before spending big bucks battling the buggers with sprays. Let's look at some of the bugs' habits before learning about how to kill bed bugs.

The same rules on how to kill bed bugs while traveling apply at home: vaccum your living space relentlessly, including furniture, changing the bag outside (hatchlings can wiggle through a stitch hole). Wash or dry clean everything moveable (clothes, bedspreads, throw rugs) in hottest water. If one happy couple escapes, though, it's all for naught.

Baumann points out that people pay plenty trying various home remedies that don't go so well, and recommends that you bite the bullet and foot the bill for an exterminator to begin with.

 

The exterminator will have instructions regarding jobs you should complete prior to his arrival.

 

- Pile up furniture. 

- Remove light switchplates (the bugs hide back there).

You may want to:

- Toss mattresses. 

- Caulk wall and wood cracks (they hide there, too) -- get caulk and a caulking gun at a hardware store and practice using a finger to smooth the goop flat against surfaces (easy).

Do:

- Completely strip all bedding (get to bare mattress). Craft says to fold bedding in on itself to contain the bugs; wash it or dry clean at high temps. Interesting factoid: Craft says that in hot desert areas, folks with infestations often hang bedding and clothes in the blistering sun -- remember that temps over 113 kill bed bugs.

Orkin exterminators will use hot, dry steam to kill bed bugs in places you touch; chemicals are used to kill bed bugs in other spots by flushing the bugs out for steaming.

Lastly, don't open travel bags on home furniture, like beds, and store them away from furniture (like in an outside shed) and any bugs who've hitchhiked may not get the chance to move in.

The bugs now live in all 50 states -- you can certainly get them at home without having traveled, too. Craft says Orkin has exterminated the bloody beasts in all states but North and South Dakota.

Once the mass slaughter is over and you're bug free, don't let the bugs bite again by keeping an eye out for the little pests next time you travel, and use the tips above to keep them out of the house when you get home.

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