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Bed Bugs on Board: Traveling with Itchy and Stinky

You've spent months planning your perfect vacation at a five-star hotel in a tropical paradise. You'll rest, relax, eat and shop for treasures. Souvenirs can be marvelous reminders of your dream vacation, if you're careful about what you're bringing back.

If travelers knew that there is a 90 percent chance that popular hotel chains are prone to bed bugs, even presidential suites in five-star hotels, there might be far fewer bodies lining the beaches. Your favorite hotel may have been host to a bed bug infestation, while patrons slept completely unaware.

How would you know if your hotel had bed bugs? What would you do about it? You should have the answers before you take your next trip. Knowing the signs and symptoms of bed bug infestation is your best way to keep these pests from following you home.

Getting Itchy

This is a sign that you'll feel before you can see it. The itching sensation caused by bed bug bites is prevalent even before the rash is visible. Bed bug bites are usually itchier than mosquito bites. When a mosquito bites, you can feel the sting of the bite and the sucking of blood, but it's quite different with bed bugs bites. First of all, bed bugs only feed while their victims are fast asleep. There are also anesthetics in bed bug's saliva to dull the pain, and anticoagulants to prevent blood from clotting. Bed bugs can bite you without detection, and leisurely feed until they can take no more.

After the initial piercing of the skin, a rash will occur at the site of the bed bug bite. This rash usually appears about an hour after the skin is pierces, although some people will not develop a rash until several days after being bitten. It all depends on the individual's reaction to the chemicals secreted by the insects.

Would you be able to spot a bed bug rash? The rash begins with a single, small, red, inflamed bump. It will appear more swollen than a mosquito rash. Initially, the rash will appear as a single, swollen spot. Days later, however, the bed bug rash will multiply. Of course, this means that the original bug has brought his friends back for another feast. People who move around a lot while they sleep may notice a rash of "in-line" bite marks. This formation takes place because the bed bugs feed quickly and return to their hiding places as soon as the host begins moving.

If you have a rash that you suspect may be the result of bed bugs, observe it for several days. Bed bug rashes remain itchy, even days after the rash first appears. The rash itself will not heal as fast as a mosquito bite mark, and may stay swollen for weeks.

Oooh, that Smell

The presence of bed bugs can sometimes be detected by a particular odor in the room.

A heavily-infested hotel room will have a sweet, musty and offensive odor. This is the smell of bed bug urine and feces. Take of quick "sniff test" of your room before you unpack. Sniff around and under the mattress, over the headboard, upholstered furniture and even wooden chairs. If you detect a strange odor that may be a presence of bed bugs, you're your bags and keep traveling.

In hotels with light or minimal infestation, the bed bug odor is not so easily detectable.

Avoiding a Home Invasion

* The night before departure, remove and inspect every item from your suitcase. Bed bugs are incredibly effective hitchhikers, and able to survive for months without food. It is very easy to start an infestation in your home with bedbugs that travel home in your luggage.

* Bed bugs are partial to paper, cloth and wood items. The insects can easily hid out and create a habitat in these porous materials. Any and all items made of these materials should be carefully inspected.

* A water-based insect killer should be sprayed in and around your suitcase.

* Shake out your clothes to remove any bed bugs.

* Wipe your bathtub dry, and put your clothing and travel items inside the tub. Bed bugs won't stay on ceramic or marble surfaces that offer no comfort and are prone to getting wet.

* Wash your laundry before returning home.

This seems like an awful lot of work, especially on your last day of vacation. It's nothing compared to the trouble you'll go through if you have to exterminate your entire home. Once bed bugs find their way into your bedroom, they'll quickly spread to other rooms in your home. It's incredibly tough to get rid of bed bugs, and you may even have to resort to throwing away your mattresses and upholstered furniture.

Taking a dream vacation is even more fun when you travel with a guest. But if you see signs of Itchy and Stinky in your hotel room, send them packing right away. You'll be much better off traveling solo.