Don't Let the Bedbugs Bite!

Get ready for a blitz of bedbug cases in summer 2011

The bloodsuckers are already entrenched in the city (NYC) and, like cockroaches, tend to thrive in July, August and September, said Jeffrey White, a research entomologist for Bedbugcentral.com.

"I firmly believe that this year is going to be worse than last year," White said at a bedbug seminar Wednesday

"If we combine the seasonal trend, with the bugs getting more and more embedded in our community, that allows the bugs to make that resurgence all the more stronger."

Nearly 7% of adults in the city - 404,000 people - reported bedbug infestations in 2009, the Health Department said.

So how do you avoid bringing them home if you happen to visit an infested motel or hotel?

• Inspect hotel room mattresses, bedding, furniture and closet hangers for signs of infestation.
• Never put clothes in hotel drawers or on a hotel floor.
• Travel with resealable bags large enough to hold clothes.
• Use dissolvable laundry bags when traveling. The bags can go straight from your suitcase to the washing machine.
• If in doubt, don't bring belongings in the house.
• Check your laptop. The bedbugs are attracted to the heat and body oils on the computer.
• Periodically inspect cribs, mattresses, box spring, head and foot boards and under the bed for signs of bedbugs. "After they've fed at night, they go and hide in the cracks and the crevices of the headboard and wait for you to come back to bed," said Gemma Holmes, owner of the Nashville-based Holmes Pest Control.
• Check the alarm clock on your nightstand, along with electrical outlets. "It's a warm spot," Holmes said.

Another thing to worry about when traveling, bedbugs in you laptop.  Never heard about soluble laundry bags, though.  I might have to find a use for those.