Bed bugs invade Paris

[ohsuzannah]

news.sky.com/story/cost-of-living-latest-paris-france-bedbugs-train-strikes-nhs-doctors-greggs-airbnb-12615118

Omg my skin is crawling reading this, I'm so glad I'm not travelling this year 😰

We’re off to Paris for a few days at half term and we’ve already discussed not sitting down on the metro. I have a horror of looking under the hotel mattress (which I absolutely will be doing, immediately upon check in) and seeing hundreds of the little bastards swarming around.

Appreciate that this is probably a groundless fear, and read something else today that they’re already rampant on the tube in London…

I think they used DDT back in the 60s. Banned now.

@Mouthulcer google Dr Infrared Heater DR-122 Bedbug Heater with Thermometer and Timer

I am in the US so can't help you with the sniffer dog. That dog was amazing. So was his handler. The heat treatment people strongly recommended we have them in before the treatment. Then the lovely dog comes back a month after the treatment and confirms that the bedbugs are gone.

Why on the tube now? What has changed.

It is disgusting, I will be sleeping at home only! You couldn't pay me to go to Paris.

@Pallisers it looks great! It's a relief to know there are options if we ever get them! The dog sounds amazing too.

Took us 7 months.

I'm not even 100 per cent certain they are gone, but feel like I'll be thinking that for the rest of my life tbh

I don’t know why they’re on the tube now more than previously, but covid must have been a massive contributing factor to the bed bug explosion in London. I remember in the hotel I stayed in just after lockdown restrictions lifted, the policy was that housekeeping would not enter rooms for the duration of the stay. You could have fresh towels delivered but there’d be no daily hoovering / cleaning for stays of a few nights. And no fresh bedding obvs.

So it's fake news?

I've never seen one in my lifetime thankfully!

It may be fake news in Paris specifically but it’s real news here in the UK, particularly in the capital!

You re no more likely to get them in Paris than anywhere else, we should all know the saying "Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite"

I'm going to France soon staying in 3 different hotels including an airport hotel.

What can o do if we find bedbugs but can't find anywhere else to stay at short notice notice

Oh ok!

I couldn't stay in a room if I found them, to the pp, but I don't know what options you'd have.

It's sadly not fake

Nothing really except go home if you can't find alternative accommodation.

Don't put your luggage in the room until you have checked for bed bugs.

I have been worried about bed bugs for over 15 years and people just used to laugh at me.

I always check for bed bugs if I stay away from home.

Someone posted this earlier:

https://www.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/bedbugs/bed-bugs-travel.pdf

New York has a massive problem with them also. I watched a program several years ago on it. They can't get rid of them because as someone else said when you treat one apartment they just move into the next one. Some of the footage of peoples homes were horrific. It only takes for one or two landlords to ignore the issue or try to treat it on the cheap and in months the whole block is infested with them.

Yes, flats and terraced houses are a big issue because it relies on everyone working together.

The problem is that it can costs hundreds, if not thousands per home to get rid of them and most people can't afford that.

I remember watching a tv programme over 10 years ago about a family in a terraced house in the UK who had their house treated but the bugs just kept comming in from next door who refused to do anything about their infestation.

Why's it suddenly so bad?

We travelled for a month in Spain and Portugal in 2017, and I got bitten in Madrid just before for flew out. It was so distressing not knowing if any had hitched a ride in my suitcase. I put it in the chest freezer when I got home.

I don't think it's suddenly so bad, it's been progressively getting worse over years and the rate is accelerating. It's also no worse in Paris than London, and certainly no worse than any big city in the US.

The only difference is that this week it's been on social media and has turned into a frenzy (I think because one bug has been spotted on a train).

The UK bed bug expert also said in a BBC article that the difference is that in France they're talking about it. In the UK the same thing happens but it's kept quiet. (He warned people about bed bugs on the northern line years ago already).

I have been worried about bed bugs for years so I'm actually grateful that this is raising awareness at last!

I'm not going to put my suitcase on floor but in Bath etc but is there anything I can spray my case with to try and prevent them hitching a ride I will also keep my case inside a black bin bag.

All worn clothes can go into sandwich bags and then frozen?

@TheHouseonHauntedHill You could give this one a try

https://www.amazon.co.uk/RepellShield-Bed-Bugs-Treatment-Spray/dp/B08DD93FSF/ref=asc_df_B08DD93FSF/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=514914624903&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=17926015851713833092&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006627&hvtargid=pla-970587096644&psc=1

.

You should freeze your items for around 4 days minimum.

Thanks!! I've got loads of t tree oil myself I will make my own spray.