First, don’t panic. What you do after discovering you and your luggage may have been exposed to bed bugs can make a big difference as to whether you take them home. It’s worth proceeding carefully and cautiously since avoiding an infestation can save you thousands of dollars and months of trouble and discomfort.
First, learn a little bit about the enemy. Read the Bed Bugs 101 FAQs on this site, and use the links to bed bug photos to learn what bed bugs look like at different life stages.
Click to download this PDF of this comprehensive article by entomologists Steven Kells and Jeff Hahn of the University of Minnesota, which describes the steps you should take if you’ve been exposed to bed bugs. Remember you have the most chance of avoiding bringing bed bugs home if you take the necessary steps before getting in your car or going to your home or anyone else’s home. It is possible to spread bed bugs to your car as well as to other locations. Following the steps in the PDF carefully as soon as you realize the exposure to bed bugs means you probably won’t bring any with you.
If you already are home before you realize the problem, do follow the same steps listed in the PDF regarding inspecting luggage (do it over the bathtub so you can see the bugs and kill them easily) and cleaning luggage, clothing, and other items. If you are home before you realize the problem, and you brought possibly infested items in (including the clothing you’re wearing as well as any luggage), then you should quickly do some major cleaning where the luggage has been brought in and where you sleep (vacuuming, steaming, etc). If you brought home a bed bug or two and have not found them, it is sometimes possible to get rid of them before they take root. Even if you don’t find any bed bugs, and you’ve done all the cleaning and followed all the other steps in the PDF, you might consider taking some time to declutter, so that if you do have any bed bugs, the signs will be more visible. You should be on the alert for several months.
Once home, if you do find bed bugs or signs of bed bugs in your luggage, clothing or in any rooms, call a PCO right away (we have a FAQ on choosing a good one who knows bed bugs). Save any samples to show them.
Finally, if you got your bed bugs in a hotel, hostel, or other accommodations, please do leave a review on Tripadvisor.com, to warn others of your experience.
A note about using freezing temperatures to kill bed bugs: Kells and Hahn and Michael Potter have slightly different ideas about the temperatures and length of time needed to kill bed bugs. According to Michael Potter’s article from the January 2007 PCTOnline, Steven Kells is apparently researching the method of “leaving things out in cold weather,” with the inevitable fluctuations in temperature. For now, until we have definitive data, I’d err on the side of caution and go for colder temperatures and longer time frames wherever possible.
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I was on the island Aruba for 9 days and when I came home I discovered I had 50 bedbugbites!! The big, red spots were ugly to see, specially on my legs. It took 14 days for them to disappear and now after 4 weeks I got a really bad small red spots on my body, legs and hands, itching!
The doctot gave me tablets/pills against allergy and it seems to work.
I got 14 pills, ach day one. I hope it helps.
23/4/2008
How long does it take before you know if you brought bedbugs home after experiencing them in on a vacation? It has been a month and a half now.
How do I know if I brought bed bugs home? I stayed at the Double Tree Suites in Burlington VT on 5/10/09 we came home and the next evening my daughter noticed what appeared to be bug bites on her arm, leg, stomach and hip. The next day the bites were swollen welts. Our family Dr. confirmed that they bites were bed bug bites and that she was having an allergic reaction. The room was a suite set up, my daughter slept on a pull out couch, my husband and I slept in a bed in another area of the suite we have no sign of bites.
Since I was not aware that we were exposed to the bed bugs until 2 days after our stay we took no immediate precautions with our luggage.
When and how will I know if I brought them home?
Is the hotel liable?
Hi Jenna and Mrs. C,
It can be difficult to detect whether you brought bed bugs home.
In Jenna’s case– I wonder if you or anyone currently staying in your home react to bed bugs on the trip? If so, they would probably also react to bed bugs once you came home. Each bed bug needs to feed about once a week.
On the other hand, if you did not react to bed bug bites on the vacation, you may also not be reacting to them now.
In the case of Mrs. C, it can take time for bed bug bites to appear. In this case, your daughter could have reacted immediately or she could have reacted a day or a few days later. (The literature says people can react — if they react — up to nine days later, though faster reactions are quite common.)
Mrs. C, also keep in mind that you and your husband may also have been bitten by bed bugs. You may simply not react. Or your daughter could have been the only one exposed.
Please see our FAQs, especially this section on detecting bed bugs, and then come to the forums for additional suggestions on what to do next.