Bed Bugs: A Rise in Population in College Dorms

One large area of the population dealing with bed bugs is college dorms. These insects are not a sign of uncleanliness. They do not pose any major medical dangers from their bites and aren’t known to transmit diseases, but their bites can be extremely itchy. Only about half of people dealing with bed bug issues report a reaction to the bites, but just because your roommate in nonreactive, does not mean that you don’t have bed bugs and that they won’t come after you next!

Bed bugs are best described as hitchhikers. They, and their eggs, stick to any surface to travel to new hosts and wreak new havoc. They can travel on clothes and can stick to small cracks and crevices.

Top Ways to Prevent the Spread of Bed Bugs:

1. Thoroughly check everything you bring into your room.
2. Picking up furniture left out for disposal is no bargain. Though it may look clean or near new, it could be teeming with bed bugs or their eggs!
3. Hang up clothes, back packs, purses and jackets on hooks or in the closet. Bed bugs cling to cloth best and can travel quickly from the pile of clothes on the floor/chair/bed.
4. Buy a zippered mattress encasement. If the mattress is infested they can’t get out and eventually die.
5. Look for them! Bed bugs are tiny, reddish-brown in color, flat, apple-seed-shaped bugs. You may not be able to notice them until you are bitten, which will cause itching, like mosquitoes. You may also notice small blood stains on your sheets, mattress or clothes. Their waste will also be visible around the edges of a mattress as a sticky red/brown paste.
6. Skip the sprays! In the case of dorm infestation, call an RA or those in charge. And, keep calling until you get the response you need!

Your best defense in dealing with bed bugs is to call professional help. Suburban Exterminating has been in business since 1960 and are experts in all phases of pest control. If you even have to question whether or not you have bed bugs, call for a free evaluation and estimate. (631) 864-6900 or (516) 864-6900.