I have read on the Internet about a major problem with bed bugs. I live in U.S. and am traveling to Europe next month. Is there a huge problem and if so, what countries?
Reply to this People talk about them in eastern Europe, where I am, but it certainly isn't a big problem. The only chance you'll have of coming across them is in cheap hotels or hostels - generally European accommodation is very clean.
J.
Reply to this Hello Gretchen 😊
There were eradicated decades ago, but again made a reappearance a couple of years ago. I dont know if they have yet been eradicated again. I dont think they are in any country in particular. I only came in contact with them once, and that was in Berlin, Germany. The idea of them if pretty disgusting but they are harmless appart from the itchy red bites they leave. I think most hotel and guest house owners are making an effort to get rid of them and keep them gone.
Mel
Reply to this if you are travelling for a while it's probably worth investing in a silk sleep sheet (you can get them for around $40 USD in travel stores) or buying some silk and sewing it up yourself - basically it's like a sleeping bag which prevents you from actually having to touch the sheets when you sleep in them. big pedantic perhaps, but better than getting bedbugs.
Reply to this I was eaten alive while camping just outside Rome, Italy...makes me feel iky just thinking about it!
Reply to this I dont think those were bed bugs explore. Bed bugs live in crevices on the walls and furniture of buildings and come out at night to bite people as far as I know. I dont think they would be on camp sites.
I am not so sure either that a sleep sheet would prevent them from biting.
Reply to this In Rome the 'camp sites' are little bungaloes with bunkbeds, similar to a hostel just cheaper http://www.campingtiber.com/content/index.htm it was so nasty!
Reply to this I caught bed bugs travelling down from Glasgow Scotland to London on the Sleeper so I suppose you will get them anywhere in Hotels and Trains. When I enter any hotel rooms I make sure that the sheets are clean by rolling down the Duvet Cover its like Inspector Morse looking for clues but you have to be careful these days. oh its making me itch just thinking about them (lol)
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Bed bugs are hateful creatures. Last fall I had several bites when staying in a Best Western Hotel in Pennsylvania. I was fairly miserable for two weeks.
Recommend you check the bed before you get in.
Where to Look for Bedbugs
• Pull back the bedspread and sheets to inspect the mattress seams of all the beds in the room. Run your finger along the entire seam, checking for dark brown spots.
• Check along the bed frame and, if possible, behind the headboard.
• Look inside dresser table drawers, being sure to inspect the side facing the wall.
• Examine upholstered chairs, focusing on the seams, tufts, and crevices.
• Inspect bedsheets for small bloodstains, evidence that you've been bitten while sleeping. Sometimes bedbug bites go unnoticed, because people don't get an immediate reaction or blame mosquitoes for the red bumps.
• If you're staying in a hotel, check roll-in cribs and folding beds, since they could have been in an infested room.
Reply to this They are on the rise everywhere because of the number international travellers. Not the 'dirty' backpacker kind actually but business men. There have been some big problems in some pretty nice hotels - 4* chain hotel type things.
The problem is that if you sleep in a room with bedbugs and don't realise, they can catch a lift on the clothes you sleep in or anything that you have carried with you. Therefore people who travel between hotels frequently are basically carrying them from place to place.
They are really really difficult to get rid of when they are in a hotel as they crawl between rooms through crevises etc.
Merry Jo's advice on checking your hotel room is very sound. Kris used to work in pest control (he's the source of this information) and it's his routine. We encountered a problem years ago in Bangkok and the bites took a month to go. Nasty.
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