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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 14 of 14. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by DannaB on December 21, 2006, at 23:53:22
I will warn you before you read on...let me preface this by saying that this is gross!!
I am dealing with an unfortunate situation. The apt. building where I have been living has an infestation with bedbugs. For those of you who don't know about them, they are like ticks that live in the cracks in the floor and walls of your home. Once you get them it is extremely difficult, time consuming and expensive to get rid of them. In fact, it's almost impossible. Simple fumigation doesn't work...treatment is much more involved than that.
Therefore I am in the process of moving to a new apartment. I am replacing all of my furniture, a very expensive and frustrating process, and I'm being very careful about what I bring to the new place.
The problem is that these bugs can be carried from place to place, and I am terrified of bringing them to my new building. Besides for the fact that I would have to deal with this problem all over again, it would surely be traced to me, as the super lives in my building (it's a small one) and is extremely nosey and involved in his tenants' lives.
It's not so much that I feel there would be legal repercussions. It's more that this is a stressful situation--the worry that I will spread this problem and make all of my new neighbors and my super really mad at me for bring this problem. However, no matter how careful I am there is no guarantee that I will not bring them with me. Moving is bad enough, but with all of this I am so stressed out that I can barely deal.
Posted by ClearSkies on December 22, 2006, at 8:27:20
In reply to Terribly stressful living situation, posted by DannaB on December 21, 2006, at 23:53:22
From what I've read, bedbugs are difficult to erradicate once they are entrenched. I did find an NPR story about from September: I can't say that there is much in the way of advice there, except to throw out your mattress and get a new one when you move so you don't transport them to your new place. Scary stuff!
"Bedbugs have reappeared across the country, and they're making a dramatic comeback in New York City, where residents reported five times as many infestations in 2006 as last year. The City Council wants to ban reconditioned mattresses, but parasite experts say that won't work.
Bedbug sufferers don't want to hear that "Sleep tight" line ever again. For many, peaceful sleep is a distant memory.
At the end of a four-hour hearing in New York's City Hall, members of the public presented themselves as exhibit A in showing the effects of the parasites.
Pearl Edwards moved from Harlem to New Jersey to escape, but she says she's still afraid.
"I go home on a bus to Jersey now," Edwards says, "and when I sit on that bus, I put plastic. People look like I'm crazy."
Bedbugs are small oval insects. They look like dark lentils with legs. They hide in furniture, live on blood -- and have been with us humans since we lived in caves. Researchers say they do not spread disease.
But Councilwoman Gale Brewer says she's received hundreds of calls from constituents, and is alarmed herself.
"My kids all had head lice; we dealt with it -- I didn't freak out," Brewer says. "With bedbugs, it's a mental health challenge.
Brewer is sponsoring a bill to form a Bed Bug Task Force to deal with all complaints. One of her proposals is to ban the sale of old mattresses, which can carry bedbugs and their eggs.
But entomologists and exterminators at the hearing doubted that would help solve the problem. Bedbugs can hitchhike on almost anything people sell or give away.
Better, they said, to teach the facts: bedbugs are very hard to kill, they don't care about the race or economic status of their victims, and they can be found in the cleanest of homes.
They can also walk into your apartment from someone else's.
That's what Caitlin Heller thinks happened in her case. Her spotless, sunny one bedroom in Queens is now bug-free. But Heller still lives with the bugs, in a way.
She started the Bedbug Blog, inviting anyone with bugs to vent and commiserate.
"The best thing I saw on the Internet was someone who wrote an article for the New Yorker," Heller says, "using the f-word like seven times -- in the New Yorker. And I was like, 'finally, someone out there understands how I feel, you know?'"
Entomologist Louis Sorkin testified at the hearing that it's unclear why bedbugs are thriving here in New York. He says it's possible a few infestations got out of hand and simply spread.
Back at his day job at the American Museum of Natural History, he keeps a colony of bedbugs in a small jelly jar on his desk.
Sorkin has fielded so many bedbug calls in the past 10 years that he considers them a specialty. He says they can live up to a year without eating, emerging from luggage or cracks in walls.
Their resilience may be a key to why they've spread in other cities.
San Francisco and Boston have racked up thousands of complaints. And a federal court in Chicago found a motel chain guilty of hiding its bedbug infestation from customers.
New Yorkers reported 4,600 cases this year -- at least, those were the people willing to admit they had a problem. "
Good luck,
ClearSkies
Posted by TexasChic on December 22, 2006, at 19:51:26
In reply to Re: Terribly stressful living situation » DannaB, posted by ClearSkies on December 22, 2006, at 8:27:20
Count Texas in too. My sister has bedbugs. They had to throw out all their funiture and the landlord accused them of being dirty and not taking baths (stupid). Everytime my nephew comes to visit I'm afraid he'll bring them with his clothes. My bed is one of my few expensive and most treasured possesions, so it really freaks me out. The only reasurring thing I've read is that rather than throw out your bed, you can inclose it in an airtight cover like for mites, and if you leave it on for a year they will die out. I hope they come up with a better solution soon. Its really a horrible situation.
-T
Posted by TexasChic on December 22, 2006, at 19:54:40
In reply to Re: Terribly stressful living situation, posted by TexasChic on December 22, 2006, at 19:51:26
its just a matter of time.
-T
Posted by fayeroe on December 22, 2006, at 20:45:08
In reply to Before long there will be lawsuits about this., posted by TexasChic on December 22, 2006, at 19:54:40
> its just a matter of time.
>
> -Tthe really cute darked haired woman on SNL (curly hair) has a lawsuit now against the apartment building where she was living. i live in Texas!!!! i didn't know they were here!!!!! pat
Posted by Reggie BoStar on December 22, 2006, at 23:21:06
In reply to Re: Terribly stressful living situation » DannaB, posted by ClearSkies on December 22, 2006, at 8:27:20
Hi ClearSkies,
What scares me about them is that I like to collect things - mostly books - and I'm wondering if I'd have to trash my collections to get rid of the bugs. Any word on those things hiding out in books, etc?
Thanks,
Reggie BoStar
Posted by fayeroe on December 23, 2006, at 18:51:33
In reply to Re: Terribly stressful living situation, posted by Reggie BoStar on December 22, 2006, at 23:21:06
> Hi ClearSkies,
>
> What scares me about them is that I like to collect things - mostly books - and I'm wondering if I'd have to trash my collections to get rid of the bugs. Any word on those things hiding out in books, etc?
>
> Thanks,
> Reggie BoStarHABITS OF BEDBUGS
Bed bugs hide in cracks and crevices during daylight hours.
They hide in the folds and tufts of mattresses, coils of springs, cracks and hollow posts of bed stands bed rails and headboards. They may be found in box springs, inside the cabinetry of furniture and the bottom and sides of drawers.
They also can be found behind loose wallpaper, behind pictures on the walls, under door and window casings, and behind baseboards.
They also hide in upholstery of chairs and sofas.
They are not restricted to these places, however.
i googled this for you.....i know that fiddleback spiders hide in books, as do scorpions. makes sense to me that they would be in your books......:-(
Posted by DannaB on December 24, 2006, at 23:03:15
In reply to Re: Terribly stressful living situation » Reggie BoStar, posted by fayeroe on December 23, 2006, at 18:51:33
Once upon a time I used to enjoy collecting things. Now I've gotten into the habit of throwing things away :( Much of what I haven't thrown away is going into a storage unit. The one positive side is that my new apartment is going to be pretty uncluttered.
Regarding books, what I've started doing when I buy used ones online--they are sooo much cheaper--is to pop them in the freezer for a good five days. It's important to have the book wrapped up when you do this, as otherwise the book will attract moisture from the freezer environment. Anyway, freezing like this will kill any bugs or eggs.
It's unlikely to get bugs from a book unless the source of your book is terribly infested, but since my experience with these critters I certainly don't want to take any chances. They are teeny and very flat and certainly could hide in between the pages of a book. Furthermore, the eggs are so tiny they are practically invisible. Better safe than sorry ;)
Thanks to everyone for sharing your knowlege and good wishes.
Posted by TexasChic on December 25, 2006, at 11:27:48
In reply to Re: Books, posted by DannaB on December 24, 2006, at 23:03:15
I was at my sister's this morning watching my nephew open his presents, when I looked down at the blanket I was wrapped in (that I had brought from home) and saw a !@#$% bedbug! Now I'm terrified I'm going to get them. I left my blanket in the trunk of my car, and everything else I brought over there. The whole thing is freaking me out. The only thing I can think of is to try to find an airtight mattress cover for my bed, which is quite expensive. My bed is the most expensive peice of furniture I own and if I have to throw it away there won't be money for a replacement. Does anyone know if renters insurance covers this sort of thing?
-T
Posted by DannaB on December 27, 2006, at 15:35:16
In reply to !@#$%, posted by TexasChic on December 25, 2006, at 11:27:48
Whatever you do, don't bring *anything* back from their place until you wash and dry it (hot cycle) and/or freeze it in below freezing temps for 5 days or more. That means clothes, luggage, books, everything. Prevention is key with this. Let me know how it goes!
Posted by Phillipa on December 27, 2006, at 16:45:45
In reply to Re: Terribly stressful living situation » DannaB, posted by ClearSkies on December 22, 2006, at 8:27:20
Clear Skies seriously? How horrible. What's your recommendation? Love Phillipa
Posted by TexasChic on December 27, 2006, at 19:15:58
In reply to Re: !@#$%, posted by DannaB on December 27, 2006, at 15:35:16
Well, it was kind of hard not to bring in the clothes I was wearing, but I left the rest in the trunk of my car overnight, hoping that if there were any bugs there, they would go away without a host to feed off of (I read something like that). The next day I was doing my laundry at my Mom's so I tied up my blanket and pillow in a plastic bag and washed them there, checking very carefully for bugs the whole time. I was really worried about bringing them into her building, but we figured if they were still around, they could just as easily have gotten on my clothes in the car. So we were just very careful and inspected everything before, and then the plastic bag afterwards. The rest of the stuff, my clothes I wore the day before, my coat, ect. are still in the trunk for now. I'm going to order some mattress bags to put on my mattress, box springs, and futon mattress. Other than that I don't know what else to do. I'm still worried about bringing them to my Mom's, in retrospect, I guess I should have brought that stuff to a washateria, but it just seemed like the right thing to do at the time. What a mess this whole thing is.
-T
Posted by ClearSkies on December 27, 2006, at 20:04:54
In reply to Re: Terribly stressful living situation » ClearSkies, posted by Phillipa on December 27, 2006, at 16:45:45
> Clear Skies seriously? How horrible. What's your recommendation? Love Phillipa
Phillipa, I don't have any recommendations; I posted an article I thought was relevant. I don't have any personal experience with pest control. I'd ask my bug guy but he just came and we won't see him for a month at least.
CS
Posted by Phillipa on December 27, 2006, at 20:08:21
In reply to Re: Terribly stressful living situation » Phillipa, posted by ClearSkies on December 27, 2006, at 20:04:54
Clear Skies sorry posted that before reading your article. And yes it's scarey. We get our books at the library. Wonder if they are safe? Love Phillipa
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