Bed bugs, causes and their prevention!

Bed bugs called “Khatmal” in Hindi are small nocturnal, wingless insects that survive on human blood and other warm blooded living beings. They are reddish brown in color, oval in shape and grow up-to 4- 5 mm in size when fully grown. Under cool condition, they can survive up-to a year (even without food). They are more active during night (when the host is sleeping). They are found in mattress seams, bed sheets, quilts, furniture fabric, carpets, in electrical outlets and picture frames. They are often found in hotels, and travel from one room to another through visitor’s luggage, purses and briefcases. In this article we will discuss about bed bugs, causes and their prevention.

How to detect bed bugs?

Two simple ways to detect bed bugs are:

First would be seeing a bed bug. They are rust colored oval insects found sticking insides the cracks of the mattress. If you see fecal smear of your mattress, it is a clear sign that there is bed bug infestation.
Bites on skin also give bed bug infestation signal. If you find that something has bitten your skin and your skin feels itchy, be aware of the blood sucking parasites.

How do bed bugs reach our home?

Bed bugs have nothing to do with filth. You can find bed bugs in the finest hotels and cleanest homes. For bed bugs to infest your home, they’ve got to take a ride on something, usually cloth or luggage. They do not stay on the host body after sucking blood but they hide in the clothes and luggage. Seats of movie theaters and other public places might be infested with bed bugs and you carry them to your home through your purse or clothes. Once they are in your home, they find new places to hide and breed. Though cleanliness has nothing to do with bed bugs but clutter does. The more cluttered your home the more hiding places you provide these parasites.

Steps to prevent bed bugs

If you have friend and family members visit your place frequently, make sure that you wash your bed linens on the hottest wash allowed for fabrics.
Remove all the clutter from you home so that there is no shelter for the bugs to breed.
Keep your luggage away from your bedroom preferably in a garage (or any place away from your room).
Closely inspect any second hand furniture before installing it in your home.
Put your clothes in hot water bucket with detergent or in your washing machine at hot wash setting, as soon as you come back home from any trip (preferably within 20-30 minutes).
If you find signs of bed bugs, immediately call for professional help.