How to Avoid Picking up Bedbugs While Traveling Abroad.
Recently, residents of Khabarovsk, Vladivostok, and Kazan faced an onslaught of bedbugs. Despite harsh frosts, these parasites became active both in dormitories and apartment buildings, appreciating the benefits of the heating season. According to experts, the bloodsucking fraternity may have been reinforced by foreign bedbugs brought by tourists from abroad. Hordes of such insects continue to attack Europe, Japan, and South Korea.
Recently, due to the bedbug invasion, a government building in London had to be evacuated, and the city’s mayor warned that there is a real danger of insects appearing in public transport.
GORUS found out how to protect suitcases from hotel bedbugs and what to do if a foreign airborne assault still manages to infiltrate your bed.
Phobia with Tiny Feet
Bedbugs not only migrate between floors within the same apartment building but also travel in tourists’ luggage. In this format, these insects can circumnavigate the entire planet, so they can unexpectedly appear where such problems have never existed before.
Recall that at the end of 2023, the invasion of bedbugs horrified residents of several European countries simultaneously. France suffered the most significant blow: by the end of 2023, bedbugs topped the list of internet searches in the country. Bedbug squads were also noticed in the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Spain. In December, the insects reached South Korea and Japan.
The technologically advanced Seoul in South Korea suffered particularly from the insect attacks. Persistent bloodsuckers made themselves known not only in motels and budget hotels but even in luxury hotels.
Gunwon Tsoi, an associate professor in the Department of Psychology and Human Capital Development at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, told GORUS that a “bedbug phobia” is spreading in modern Korea. According to Korean experts, these insects were brought to the country from Europe and East Asia.
“Even high-category hotels, as it turned out, are not a completely ‘safe zone.’ Bedbugs are especially viable in conditions of increased humidity,” Tsoi emphasized.
He also noted that in South Korea, it is not customary to ventilate rooms due to the problem of dust particles from China. Even before the pandemic, Koreans were accustomed to wearing dense masks on the street and installing powerful air purifiers in their homes. All of this leads to maintaining a high level of humidity indoors, creating favorable conditions for bedbugs.
According to the expert, at the end of last year, an online mark confirming the absence of bedbugs in housing was introduced in Seoul due to the growth of public concern. Such marks were previously used in hotels and motels in the city, helping tourists choose a safe place to stay.
“The authorities of the Republic of Korea assure that the risk of bringing bedbugs from ‘safe’ hotels is extremely low. Preliminary disinfection is also carried out in public transport. More attention should be paid to restaurants, clubs, and cafes, where owners of establishments are supposed to take care of safety themselves,” Tsoi explained.
Even luxury hotels can have bedbugs
Identifying Uninvited Guests
For tourists traveling to countries experiencing a bedbug invasion, Gunwon Tsoi recommends purchasing special means for the prevention of blood-sucking insects.
“It is also worth noting that bedbugs are nocturnal creatures and prefer to show activity early in the morning. In well-lit rooms, they do not appear during the day, although they may hide in cracks and occasionally come out, as they are sensitive to movement, vibrations, and the warmth of the human body. Thus, public transport is not an environment for the reproduction of bedbugs, as it does not provide conditions for this process,” Tsoi concluded.
Mikhail Butyugin, the head of the company “Dezfox,” points out that Russians can bring bedbugs from almost any country. Therefore, it is crucial to understand in time whether there are uninvited guests in the hotel room.
– If there are few bedbugs or they have just settled in the hotel shortly before your arrival, it will be extremely difficult to detect them. They have not yet had time to leave any traces, and they will not be visible. In such cases, the only way to understand that you are not alone in the room is through bites. Bedbug bites usually form a line. This distinguishes them from bites of other insects or allergies, – said Butyugin.
Signs that bloodsucking guests are already frolicking in the hotel room include characteristic black spots on surfaces – insect excrement. You can also notice the chitinous cover left after molting, find egg clusters, or the insects themselves.
Since not everyone has such experience, Mikhail Butyugin recommends studying in advance, using pictures online, what bedbugs, their eggs, and the traces they leave look like.
– All these traces and the insects themselves should be looked for behind pictures, under carpets, in furniture joints, and other secluded places. Bedbugs can crawl into a suitcase and onto clothing, so to speak, “on foot.” They will crawl, crawl, stay if they find it cozy, – the expert emphasizes.
During the day, as mentioned above, bedbugs prefer to hide, and at night, they come out in search of a victim. Luggage and clothing can interest them as a hiding place, a place to sit until the next attack, or for breeding offspring. This is why Butyugin recommends placing belongings away from the sleeping area.
If there are bedbugs in your apartment, getting rid of them will not be easy
Items – to Dry Cleaning, Apartment – for Processing!
The more bedbugs in the hotel room, the higher the risk of bringing them with you.
– If you find bedbugs in your suitcase when you return home, all the imported clothes must be washed at a temperature of at least 60 degrees. The suitcase itself, if it has any seams or joints, should be treated with steam, – Butyugin said.
Rospotrebnadzor experts advise giving things to a laundry or dry cleaner after returning from a trip. There, clothes will undergo processing at a high temperature capable of destroying bedbugs.
– As for the apartment, I do not recommend dealing with bedbugs on your own with household insecticides. Such a struggle can lead to the fact that you will have a colony of very resistant insects, which will be difficult for professionals to deal with later, – Butyugin added.
The expert also warns: be careful in choosing insecticides. Amateurs often consider themselves professionals, believing that it is enough to buy the “best remedy,” increase its concentration, and everything will work out.
– But there are no “best means” at all. Any remedy that was highly effective in one case may turn out to be ineffective for another population of insects, as they may have developed resistance to this group of insecticides. True professionals always have preparations of different insecticidal groups in their arsenal, and they know how to alternate them correctly to suppress resistance. They also know many other nuances of pest control, – Butyugin explained.
To notice the appearance of pests in your apartment at an early stage, Rospotrebnadzor recommends changing bedding more often.
– It is necessary to regularly clean the premises, preferably using a vacuum cleaner, change bedding frequently, immediately wash it, not keep it in storage containers, periodically inspect sofas, carpets, and pay attention to traces of bedbug activity, – note in the Rospotrebnadzor press service.
By Ksenia Stetsenko