A letter from a reader in Canada. Krystelle writes,

Hi,

I have a number of questions for you. Brief background is this, on my way back from Australia to Canada in Feb 2008, I stopped in Bangkok for two nights. Around 5 pm both days, I noticed a massive amount of bites on my arms and upper legs. I assumed they were mosquito bites, but when I got back to Canada in February, the bites continued (but I was getting fewer: between 2-4 day). I went to a doctor who told me she was sure that I had bed bugs. I went back to the friends house, tore everything apart and found what I thought were two bed bugs. I contacted a PCO, who looked at the samples, and agreed. He did two treatments, and I still was getting bites. The friend who I was staying with has not received any bites and the person who has moved into my room has not had any problems (about 2 months ago).

Before moving to my sister’s place, I took all precautions – washing and drying all clothing, coats, shoes, handbags and placing them in large ziplock bags. My luggage was vacuumed and anything I wasn’t sure how to clean (electronic picture frames, books) has been sealed and stored. I am still getting bites, and am at a complete loss as to how I could be bringing them with me. I also have had to stay out of town a few times, each time I follow the above procedure, and still get bites no matter where I go. No one else has had them, even people who have slept right next to my luggage for more than a week. For almost all my bites, they do not show up until late afternoon, evening. As far as I can recall I have never woken up with new bites, they don’t appear until later. Since finding the initial bugs, I have not been able to find any bugs, eggs or casts.

It is quite common for bites received during the night to appear in late afternoon (or at any other time during the day). Many people notice them first after showering (there’s a theory that the heat “brings them out”). Not finding bed bugs, eggs, or cast skins is not unusual, but I would expect signs of some kind, especially after four months. Have there been any fecal stains?

So my questions are:

Is there anything you can think of that I might be doing to transmit the bugs with me?

Sure: what about that luggage? You vacuumed it, but they could still be in there. Is it still around?

Do you have a workplace you could have infested? A car? Any other locations they may have spread?

I am not sure where you are in Canada, but it’s worth noting that this is a widespread problem, all over your country. It is not unthinkable that someone there might have bed bugs and you’re being exposed to them without even having brought them in.

I have a laptop which has never been in any of my bedrooms – when I move I vacuum the case but how do I clean the actually laptop?

This is not an easy question to answer. Others may have recommendations, but it is hard to do anything without potentially damaging the electronic item.

You need a Pest Control Operator who knows bed bugs to will treat your home (or wherever you’re laying your hat) thoroughly, not just twice, but until bed bugs and bed bug bites are long gone. The FAQS on Pest Control will be of some help. One describes how intrepid Bedbuggers have found samples of bed bugs. Another suggests questions to ask a potential PCO.

Get the PCO to advise you on the laptop. Bed bugs will not live in there indefinitely. If they are in the laptop, they will come out to bite you. Having the PCO make sure there’s a pesticide between you and the laptop might be a good bet. (That way, they come out to feed, cross poison, and die.) I advise against self-treatment both for issues of safety and effectiveness.

But remember that electronics are not always infested. And my money’s on your luggage.

Is it possible for previous bites to keep coming back? My bites always seem to be located in the same spots, and are almost always under my clothing.

Are they in the same spots, or are they the same bites?

Some people believe bites can sometimes kind of hang around and keep flaring up. I have never heard anyone claiming this was happening in the same spots for four months.

I think it is more likely that you are being bitten and that they favor certain areas of your body. (Under clothing? Sure. The idea they don’t go there is a myth.)

Are you aware of anything else that could be causing these? My friends think that I am paranoid but my bites are quite specific and do not look at all like a stress rash.

Sorry for the long email, I appreciate any help you can give me.

Sorry for your trouble, Krystelle.

Actually, lots of things can cause similar problems. Scabies should be ruled out (though it is unlikely in your case–I would expect it to get worse and worse over four months, and spread around the body). Folliculitis has been the cause of at least one Bedbugger’s scare. See a doctor to rule it out.

Try not to itch. If a bite reaction is “coming back” then leaving it alone to heal might help. Again, I don’t think this is the case.

Doctors can’t diagnose bed bug bites definitively. However, I understand that they can verify in some cases whether an insect caused an apparent bite. You might follow up on that.

Good luck– please do not give up. If your PCO was treating a known infestation, s/he should not have stopped after two visits if the bed bugs and bed bug bites had not abated fully. We hear the average treatment takes 3 or more visits spaced two weeks apart.

Finally, readers, I am answering Krystelle’s letter here and not via email precisely so that you can weigh in with your wisdom. That’s your cue! What do you have to say to Krystelle?Similar Posts:

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Note to readers: a letter to the editor from journalist Adam Voiland, a staff Science and Medicine reporter at U.S. News and World Report, who did a major story for that magazine on bed bugs last year, is posted in its entirety below.

Full disclosure: I ask Adam’s indulgence as I made a few very minor alterations. I added hotlinks to our coverage of the Fox News story that Adam referenced, and to my post which responded to Adam’s article. I added paragraph breaks to facilitate ease-of-reading (sorry, Adam, to make you contend with editors even in your off-time!) I also changed one word: reference to LtDan’s “posts” in the third paragraph, second sentence, was changed to “comments,” for greater clarity, since Dan’s status here on the Bedbugger blog is as a commenter. It’s a blog thing: blog authors are said to write “posts,” whereas everyone else leaves “comments.” And I hope you all will: comment, I mean.

Thanks for your letter, Adam!

– nobugs

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Nobugs,

I checked Bedbugger.com tonight to see if you had picked up the story about Fox News and bedbugs. In doing that I happened to run across your post titled “Bed bugs in almost all 58 states” that was published on June 4, 2007. It’s an interesting post, and I found the stream of comments from Lt. Dan in response particularly fascinating to read. The discussion about immigrants and bedbugs cuts to the heart of one of the dilemmas I faced in covering the bedbug story–which has received a fair amount of criticism on this blog from some of its readers–for U.S. News & World Report. [Editor's note: Adam's original U.S. News and World Report story on bed bugs is here, and our commentary on it is here.]

One of the undercurrents that came up numerous times in the various interviews I conducted for the bedbug story was this issue of immigration. Under their breath or off the record a number of PCOs and scientists mentioned to me that bedbug infestations tended to predominate in areas with high numbers of immigrants. I was told by some PCOs, for example, that different cultural groups had different reactions to bedbugs, different levels of experience with them, and, ultimately, different levels of concern about them. Although most of the comments were not overtly racist, they were the sort that might easily by construed to be had I put them in the public sphere. I chose not to include those quotes. And I chose not to address the immigration issue in my story. I knew that doing so would simply insert a level viscousness into the discourse that was neither warranted nor helpful. That may or may not have been a wise journalistic decision, but it is certainly the sort of choice that journalists make all the time in crafting their stories.

Meanwhile, Lt. Dan had called me numerous times full of theories on all things bedbugs related that seemed out of touch with reality at best and hysterical at worst. Some of his rhetoric then–same as you see in his comments on this blog–suggested he was prepared to start scapegoating and isolating any perceived source of bedbug contamination, be they immigrants or residents of New York City, in his personal war against bedbugs. I found this unsettling as history is full of examples for which having a particular disease or carrying a particular pest has been used as justification for demonizing social groups that, for one reason or another, were undesirable to society at large. This concerned me as my other reporting suggested he may not be the only one drawing this short-sighted conclusion. That concern about scapegoating perceived carriers of bedbugs is part of the reason that I assumed the tone that I did. Remember, that bedbugs do not kill or even seriously injure people physically.

Yes, (as I said before in my article and say again now) bedbugs are a problem. Yes, we ought to make a concerted effort as both individuals and as a society to control the spread of such a pest. And, yes, we should take seriously the stress and mental health problems they can spark for people who get them. However, we must also be wise in the tone and tenor of our response to these bugs. Getting hysterical or hyping this issue in ways that are not thoughtful or constructive has real consequences. I don’t believe that we should tolerate bigotry or irrational scapegoating in this country for any reason–including bedbugs. Was that part of my calculus in the tone I chose for my bedbug story? Definitely. Will taking a measured and thoughtful tone–as I would generally commend the author of this blog for doing–in our response hamper our country’s ability to stop the spread of bedbugs? Perhaps. That, however, is a risk I’m personally willing to take. And I can guarantee you if (or perhaps when?) I get bedbugs myself that’s one opinion of mine that’s not going to change.

Take Care,
AdamSimilar Posts:

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