To be shitting bricks about this bed bug invasion?

[KnackeredMami]

I know it's probably alarmist media but I'm terrified it's true or if it's going to become true! We'll pick them up on public transport, but if we don't go on public transport they'll still get us in hotels, or from other people who do go to hotels, or from our kids in school. I'm reading they sneak in clothes and bags, hide in wardrobes, beds, behind photo frames, in the carpet, in the sofa, I mean basically everywhere? So how the fuckety fuck would you check if there are any? Check every inch of my house everyday? How would I get rid of them if they did arrive? If they could literally be anywhere and everywhere.

This actually makes my blood run cold!

Where have you read this?

You realise the UK already has lots of bedbugs right? This isn't a new phenomenon and they're not a novel species in the UK.

They're just getting back to normal levels after COVID stopped them spreading like normal. It's a palaver over nothing.

You'll be fine.

You’re obsessing. Stop googling.

I'm with you. Terrifying!!

I read ages ago - and am not going to claim I know it to be true - that it’s the tendency in recent years towards washing things like bedding and towels at 20c and using non-bio gel detergents that has contributed to the spread of bedbugs. You need to hot wash and use bio powder - otherwise all you’re doing is giving your bugs and lice a nice temperate bath.

I’m continuing to wash at 60c and hoping that my run of never seeing a bed bug will hold out!

They are basically flightless mosquitoes which, unlike mosquitoes, carry no diseases. None. I almost died from a mosquito Bourne disease and I bet you're fine with them.

Chill out. Buy or make traps which you can check if you must. But really, just chill out.

They are just bed bugs. I mean yeah they are gross but so are head lice. It's not the end of the world. The media is being really ott about if.

Did you know we all have mites in our eyelashes?

<cackles and runs away>

I've been worried about bed bugs for years. The thought of it makes me never want to travel anywhere again, even if the chances of coming across them are remote.

I go through phases of being quite anxious about it, and seeing it all over the news has rather triggered me. I try not to think too much about where the kids' school bags have been and whether any visitors to my house have been on holiday recently... Eugh

Terrified is a bit extreme. Bed bugs are nothing new though they appear to have become a big problem in France, possibly due to becoming resistant to pesticide.
I am always a bit careful with luggage when I get home from a hotel but there's not much else you can do.

Come home, wash everything in a hot wash, put the bags in tightly sealed bin bags.

You can TRAVEL AGAIN!

I came home from Spain a few days ago and I have bites. I think I brought them back! Can't see anything but going to have a good look tomorrow in daylight.

Meanwhile my colleague was bitten by one on the plane from Paris...we are both back in UK now so sure they're spreading.

Could be sand flies, mosquitoes, fleas, anything.

Three bites in a row, typically on your torso, more likely to be bedbugs.

@MrsTerryPratchett I actually do that! When we arrive on holiday all luggage goes into the bath tub while I check the room. I never use wardrobes/drawers, I just take things from my case as I need them. Upon return I am very regimented about how luggage gets from the car into the house. DH thinks I'm actually insane, and to be honest it does take the enjoyment and relaxation out of our holidays...

Not mosquitoes @MrsTerryPratchett as I am allergic and was torn apart by them on hols!

These are very small and itchy bites and has been showing up in the morning after sleep. But not in a pattern to be fair. God kno d what else it could be....

This is ridiculously OTT.

You do know they don't just live in machine-washable items, don't you? So if you did have them, which is unlikely despite what the media would have you believe recently, you'd know from other signs of their presence. Doing your laundry at 60 to prevent bed bugs is expensive, wasteful and doing nothing useful.

I’ve known someone who had them. They had a nightmare getting rid of them.
all their clothes had to be dry cleaned, everything boil washed or frozen and the house repeatedly fumigated.

after her experience I feel the same as you op.

Terrified?? Really?
Yes, if you caught them, it would be annoying. But they’re not dangerous? Just irritating.

Bedding and towels should be washed at 60. They definitely get dirty and need to be washed properly.

Whatever you do, don't think of the millions of micro-organisms that share you house with you.

Yeh, I'm a bit scared too. Everything seems a bit biblical now. Virus, War, war, plague

They are really hard to get rid of. Whilst not ‘dangerous’ you can’t really dismiss them as like flightless mosquitoes. They are totally grim, cause itchy bites and leave blood stains all over your sheets. I’ve been in bed bug infested houses. It’s horrible.

What part of your body?

I think we may have entered a TMI place

It’s not the bed bugs that are terrifying as such, it’s the sheer amount of work needed to get rid of an infestation if they get in to clothes, mattress, bedding etc

We’ve not had bed bugs, but we’ve had carpet beetles, flour weevils (which took over all the kitchen cupboards),ladybirds, etc.

No need to wash your bedding at mega temp. A regular wash will kill any in your bedding or clothes.

bedbugs are actually really easy to kill. The hard bit is making sure you’ve got all of them. They live in dark crevices like mattress seams and behind pictures on walls.

Some people have reaction to bedbugs some don’t. So you could have been bitten loads at a hotel and not even know it.

a proper infestation needs a professional.