Comments on: Denver’s elderly, disabled, fight bed bug Shaq attack

By: More bad news about Denver's bed bug-infested Halcyon House | bedbugger

More bad news about Denver's bed bug-infested Halcyon House | bedbugger — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 02:37:26 +0000

[...] bed-bug-infested building which houses mostly elderly and disabled tenants in Denver, Halcyon House, was in the news again [...]

By: More on Denver's Halcyon House and bed bugs | bedbugger

More on Denver's Halcyon House and bed bugs | bedbugger — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 23:49:52 +0000

[...] as the discussion of the last post on Bedbugger about this issue suggests, getting rid of bed bugs in a high-rise takes a certain level of involvement–time, [...]

By: hopelessnomo

hopelessnomo — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 19:12:39 +0000

Another story about Halcyon House.

By: hopelessnomo

hopelessnomo — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 20:41:23 +0000

Hi Jammin. I’m not sure that it’s helpful to employ these categories in this way, but I’ll do my best.

It’s not correct to say that “the rich were not affected” — no such thing can be asserted with any authority. Before the wide use of synthetic pesticides, it is probable that anyone could get them and we know of people in all walks of life who, in fact, did. I just said that bedbugs, as in “chronic” bedbug infestations, became associated with poverty and with the conditions of poverty (overcrowding, extreme lack of sanitation, deteriorating structures, etc.). That is a statement about perception, but of course based upon reality. Obviously, someone living in an infested tenement had no hope of ever being bedbug-free. The conditions would not allow it, no matter how much personal effort went into it. (And the oral histories bear this out with heartbreaking clarity.)

If an infestation in a building is left uncontrolled, or controlled piecemeal, as in spraying some apartments here and there, but not taking measures in all apartments at the same time, the infestation spreads to a point where temporary abatement in some units is all that is achieved and eradication becomes extremely difficult if not impossible. If there are widespread bedbugs inside the walls of a structure, structural fumigation is apparently the solution of last resort.

By: nyjammin

nyjammin — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 16:39:10 +0000

I’m confused. Why is it that as Hopeless said.. “Yes, of course. Bedbugs became associated with poverty before they were Ã¢â‚¬Å“eradicated.Ã¢â‚¬Â There is no reason to doubt this can happen again.” How is it that the rich were not affected by them? Did they have “means” to get rid of them that the poor did not? It’s funny how things change. I read a couple hundred years ago that bbs were associated with the rich because the rich were housed in castles and the poor in huts w/o heat and they slept on straw which bbs did not like. You could tell people were rich by the bites on their bodies.

Hopeless, you also said that “In NYC, there are fairly decent buildings fighting infestations for years.” Why is that? I don’t understand? Not because the buildings are “decent” but because it’s taking so long to get rid of them. Why? Does it have to be like this?

By: nobugsonme

nobugsonme — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 15:33:38 +0000

Thanks D. Yes, it is a very difficult situation.

I have seen hospital beds that were “sealed mattresses” (wipe clean, no seams, solid vinyl exterior), and I think this is fairly typical of hospital beds (sealed mattresses are also found in other institutions like prisons) so there are options there.

But the rest of what we do would be very difficult or impossible for the residents. Solutions must be found and protocols developed. Not keeping disabled peoples’ homes free of bed bugs is a terrible “other option”.

By: D

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 06:19:07 +0000

First of all, before anyone asks… I have no idea of the legality of using Vikane in Denver!
I had a good friend who lived in Halcyon House until he passed away a few years ago. He was paraplegic. Based on him & his living conditions & what I saw of others when I visited, here are some sad realities for many of these these residents:
Many of them have motorized hospital type beds to keep them from getting bed sores. They can’t be encased, elevated or otherwise protected the way most of us have done ours, and replacing them is financially prohibitive. My friend was in & out of the hospital due to his condition, & had much convalescent time at home, in bed, 24 hours a day for a week or 2 at a time.
Many have nursing assistants in their apartments at least twice daily to help them get up in the morning & go to bed at night. Talk about the potential for spreading bugs! These are usually traveling CNA’s who go from one client straight to another.
The wheelchair bound go straight from their beds to their chairs… then they may have infested chairs. Many of these residents may be missing hands or arms… no Ziplocks for clothes & linens!

Even the answers that we consider to be the easy ones aren’t easy for most of these people. Keep ‘em in your prayers, folks!

By: Bugalina

Bugalina — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 04:52:49 +0000

NYjaming…You know that my heart breaks for you….The way this epidemic is going there is a definite divide on who will be able to get rid of bed bugs…those who can pay for the high cost of extermination and all the “accessory tools” that go along with it, versus those who just cannot afford it. Our bed bug infestation cost us thousands and thousands of dollars, the extermination, the cost of moves and the loss of expensive beds and furniture. I think its a travesty that this ” bug Katrina” is being ignored by our government. Yes, I am mad and frustrated. It has been over one year since I was infested and there is NOTHING new being offered that can exterminate the monsters that doesn’t cost lots of money. I am repulsed by the flippant attitudes of people who work in the private and public sectors , who are privy to the “secret world of bed bug infestation” going on. Let me remind all of the flippant remark that Mayor Bloomberg said to me when I phoned ( last year) into the Friday afternoon radio program “ask the mayor”….he said.. “Well, what do you want me to do , appoint a bed bug Czar”? MY answer is …Yes you elitist Pri-k…I do expect you to appoint a bed bug Czar……I expect you to be able to eradicate a bug in the year 2007 like our government did all throughout the 50s, 60s and 70s….I think that basic dignities are what your constituents expect and deserve. Bed bugs started to appear in the late 1990’s and they were very problematic by 2003….The very fact that there are no public service announcements out there is criminal…the fact that there is no supervised sanitation pickups for bed bug infested mattresses and furniture in NYC is criminal…NY politicians are very aware of this epidemic but they choose to do nothing…..I am fed up and disgusted by them….and I agree with NYjaming..I was very disappointed that Ellyn Degeneres turned bed bugs into “laughs”…..There is nothing funny about bed bugs…Its sickening that people who could help do not….and those in postitions of power seem to think that “accepting the epidmeic” is what we must do…..I am sick of hearing about “resistance”….as far as I am concerned..the bed bugs are winning because people who should be making strides are not because they are incapable and narrow minded . LIke I said…if we could remove the enormous profits and egos and ineptness from the equation maybe then we would have a much better handle on this fast moving bug epidemic. Its a bug…and it needs a pesticide… bug death = pesticide with decent residual….affordable, effective pesticide…that’s all folks…

By: nobugsonme

nobugsonme — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 04:15:40 +0000

Speaking of the bad old days– does everyone remember the BAD thing it’s said people used to do to kill bed bugs: drowing the contents of their homes in kerosene?

(This is extremely flamable and extremely dangerous, please do not even consider it.)

Well, British bed bug PCO David Cain wrote recently on our forums that several cases came up recently in the UK where people had drowned the contents of their home in petrol (gasoline)…
http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/423?replies=15

(This is extremely flamable and extremely dangerous, please do not even consider it.)

That people are trying such dangerous and unnecessary methods should be a wake up call to our governments and social service agencies that bed bugs are extremely disturbing to live with and that people need help.

By: hopelessnomo

hopelessnomo — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 02:18:06 +0000

Yes, of course. Bedbugs became associated with poverty before they were “eradicated.” There is no reason to doubt this can happen again.