Always carrying a flashlight when traveling and turning off the lights when you arrive in your hotel room are must-have measures taken by an experienced British hotelier when traveling. According to her, tourists should take note of her method.
“When you enter the room, use the flashlight on your smartphone to examine all possible corners and cozy places under the bed,” recommended Hayley from the pages of the British publication Mirror. This is due to the risk of encountering the real terror of tourists – bed bugs – in the room.
A room that looks great at first glance can contain danger. Inspection parameters also include looking for blood stains on fabrics and other possible habitats for parasites, such as mini-fridges, curtains, and ironing boards. The interlocutor recognized the importance of conducting all these checks before the tourist unpacked his luggage. The reason is simple and convincing: to avoid the potential penetration of bugs into personal belongings.
We will remind you that Great Britain and the USA are experiencing a boom in the spread of bed-suckers. The increase in infections of tourists and locals in previous periods amounted to a record 65%. Travelers, unaware of the risk, often bring these unpleasant insects into their homes.
Experts blame old furniture, as well as people’s return to active travel and hotel stays in the post-pandemic era, for the acceleration of the number of cases of infection, says James Logan, a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He also confirmed that bed bugs are becoming more resistant to insecticides.
Exceptionally unpleasant news for hotel owners: the process of getting rid of bedbugs can be very expensive, since pest control specialists get rid of bloodsuckers in stages, with repeated procedures, since it is far from always possible to get rid of them the first time.
How to recognize that pests are nearby and get rid of them yourself
Thus, according to an expert in the fight against insects, who shared his experience with the publication, it is important to know the signs of bedbug bites to identify the problem in time and start solving it: “The most obvious sign of the presence of bedbugs is bites on the skin, especially after sleep, as well as spots blood on bed linen from bites. In addition, you can notice the excrement of bed bugs on bedding and furniture, they look like small brown spots.
He also emphasized that bed bugs can survive for a year without food, which makes their eradication difficult. “These creatures are active at night and come out to feed while we sleep. They react to the carbon dioxide we exhale, which allows us to determine that we are nearby,” the interlocutor warned.
If signs of bedbugs are detected, appropriate measures should be taken. The specialist advised to use of the heating method as the most effective method of their destruction. “Washing and disinfecting clothes and furniture at a temperature of +50 ⁰C for about 90 minutes will get rid of bedbugs,” the expert explained.