Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Students living on and off campus could have a dormant pest lurking in the dark waiting to strike their sleeping, unsuspecting victims: us.
Cimex lectularius, more affectionately known as the bed bug, used to feed mostly in areas of poor hygiene or third world countries. But with increased world travel and the decline in the use of pesticides, bed bugs have come to be found in almost every society, even right here in Lawrence.
A dead bed bug is magnified by a microscope while being studied at the Watkins Health Services Lab. Students need to be aware of possible contact with the parasite, especially when living in dorms.
How to Prevent a Bed Bug Infestation:
• Pull your bed away from shelving or the wall
• Coat legs of the bed with a two-inch band of Vaseline or mineral oil; or with double-sided tape
• Carefully examine your room for cracks in walls, where the baseboard meets the wall and between planks in wooden floors. Also inspect your mattress, bed frame and box spring. Look for bugs hiding in crevices and for fecal matter
• Vacuum regularly, including mattress seams
• Clear the room of debris
— Watkins Student Health Center
“Bed bugs are appearing in social areas they didn’t use to,” said Patty Quinlan, nursing supervisor with Watkins Memorial Health Center.
Although uncommon in Lawrence, Quinlan said she did see about two or three bed bug infestations each semester from students living off-campus.
Aside from itchy red bites similar to those of a mosquito, bed bugs don’t cause physical harm, Quinlan said. But, she said, that doesn’t make the pests any more likable.
“An infestation is more emotionally scarring than physically scarring,” she said.
Jennifer Wamelink, associate director of the Department of Student Housing, said no cases had ever been reported in residence halls. However, bed bug cases nationwide have increased 71 percent since 2000, according to the National Pest Management Association.
Because bed bugs can’t fly, they rely on humans to transport them to a new victim.
Quinlan said the easiest way to pick up bed bugs was by laying luggage, purses or book bags on the floor at night – when bed bugs are most active.
While Quinlan said volunteers at the homeless shelter would be at a greater risk of picking up a hitchhiking bed bug or two, Greg Burg, director of undergraduate biology, said no particular group was at more risk than others.
He said bed bugs have been reported to infest private homes, apartments and college residence halls.
According to Reuters, universities with bed bug infestations in recent years include Texas A&M, the University of California-Berkeley, and the University of Florida.
Missy Henriksen, vice president of public affairs with the National Pest Management Association, said bed bugs could move freely between rooms through the walls, electrical circuits and baseboards. That means if one room has an infestation, it’s likely adjacent rooms have or will have an infestation if the pest isn’t removed.
Mike Wahlund, Chicago freshman, is living in Oliver Hall this semester. He said he was on “alert level” when it came to bed bugs because his girlfriend, who attends college at the University of Chicago, was worried about the problem and even purchased a mattress cover this semester to prevent an infestation.
“The mosquitoes here and back home are bad enough,” Wahlund said. “Bed bugs would only add to the problem.”
Wahlund said he wasn’t concerned because he and his roommate liked to keep their room clean.
But Henriksen said it didn’t matter if the room was clean or dirty because the bugs hide in cracks and could live dormant up to a year without food.
“I don’t think too many people like falling asleep knowing something’s going to crawl up and suck on our blood,” he said.
He said population sizes could be as low as a dozen or as high as in the thousands, depending on how many people lived in the infested area.
Although she said she didn’t see bed bugs as much of a threat to University students, Quinlan said it was important for students to be aware of bed bugs because it was so difficult to remove the pests.
Regardless of the stigma attached to a bed bug infestation, Quinlan said, students need to report any suspicions of bed bugs in order to prevent the pests from spreading to neighbors.
— —Edited by Tim Burgess
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Comments
Don’t let the bed bugs bite
Actually, I lived in Jayhawker Towers in the 2005-2006 school year and had beg bugs in the complex. During the first few weeks while living there, I woke up one morning with terrible bumps all over my arms and legs. I went to the doctor (off-campus) and he said they were bug bites. I did not know they were bed bugs until later.
Upon arriving back to Towers, we pulled my bed away from the wall and found several dead bed bugs lying along the side of the wall and the bed.
My roommate and I reported it to the front desk. I also took some of the dead bed bugs down to the front desk so they could see them. Towers couldn't have cared less. It took a few days for pest control to come and for them to replace the beds.
I'm sure that Towers never reported it to Student Housing. I'd be happy to share the picture we took of the bed bug shells.
Don’t let the bed bugs bite
I also lived in Jayhawker Towers. My first year there, in 2005-2006 my roommates and I all began noticing strange trails of bites on our arms and legs. We looked in our beds but did not see anything.
I came home one day and found a note taped to our bedroom door. My roommate had found the culprit--dead bed bugs were behind our bed and after researching the live ones were in our bed posts, mattresses and pillows. The only way to kill them was to take everything home that was even remotely close to our bed and wash it and dry it on a high heat setting.
The things that we could not wash had to be thrown out or placed in a sealed, black garbage bag that would basically create and incinerator and roast the bugs out in the garage. I have never felt so gross!
Even after notifying Towers it took days for them to do anything about it. We had to call at least twice because of their lack of concern.
We were right too...they were bed bugs. About a week later we began seeing the dumpsters getting filled up with mattresses.
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