Bedbugs

Bedbugs (Cimex lectularius) are small blood-sucking insects that can live in cracks and crevices in and around your bed.

Attracted by your body heat and carbon dioxide, they crawl out at night to bite your exposed skin and feed on your blood, just as mosquitoes do.

Not everyone develops a skin reaction to bedbug bites, but some people develop itchy red bumps. These appear around 15 to 30 minutes after being bitten and can last for several days.

Bedbug bites are usually found on the face, neck, hand or arm, and are often mistaken for mosquito bites. However, while mosquito bites tend to be random in pattern, bedbug bites more often occur in straight lines.

Although bedbugs can be upsetting and stressful to find, they aren't dangerous and don't transmit any human diseases. Most people don't develop any serious skin reaction. However, you should take action straight away to prevent the spread of an infestation.

If you think you have a bedbug infestation, read the advice below and contact your local council or a professional pest control firm that is a member of the British Pest Control Association or National Pest Technicians Association.

About bedbugs

Adult bedbugs look a bit like lentils and are visible to the naked eye. They are oval-shaped, flat and up to 5mm long. Their colour can vary between dark yellow, red or brown.

Females lay up to 300 eggs over their lifetime. These white specks stick to surfaces and are very difficult to spot. They hatch after about 10 days to form tiny straw-coloured insects which take about six to eight weeks to grow into adults. As they grow, they shed their skin, which leaves mottled brown shells on your mattress.

Bedbugs need to feed on blood to be able to mature, but they're very resilient. Adults can survive for up to a year without feeding.

They're not attracted to dirt, so a bedbug infestation isn't a sign of an unclean home. Bedbugs may be found in all types of housing, but are more common in short-term accommodation such as hotels or hostels.

How to spot them

look for any unexplained skin rash or itchy bump (although not everyone develops this)
look out for black spots on your mattress – this could be their dried faeces
look for mottled shells that bedbugs may have shed
check your sheets for blood spots where you may have rolled over and squashed a bug after it had fed
inspect all the crevices and joints of your mattress and furniture using a torch, and see if you can spot any bugs
there may be an unpleasant, musty scent in rooms with a large infestation – adult bedbugs produce this odour with their scent glands when disturbed

Where to find them

Because their bodies are flat, bedbugs can squeeze into the smallest crevice or crack, such as a mattress seam or the joints of a bed frame. This can make them very difficult to spot.

They tend to prefer fabric or wood over plastic and metal, and often hide near to where you sleep – for example, under the mattress or along the headboard.

However, they're able to travel several feet to reach you, so may be found away from the bed in other furniture, along the edges of carpets and even behind mirrors or inside smoke alarms. They can be found almost any place in the bedroom where they won't be disturbed.

How bedbugs spread

Once introduced into your home, bedbugs can spread easily from room to room. They don't jump or fly, but can crawl quickly.

Bedbugs can soon spread within a building by getting through holes in walls or pipes, and can potentially invade blocks of flats, hotels or hospitals. On average, it takes around seven weeks before bedbugs are discovered in another room of a property.

The bugs can also be transported in luggage, clothing, furniture and bedding from one building to the next. This makes it easy for tourists and commuters to unknowingly spread bedbugs.

Getting rid of the bugs

It can be extremely difficult to get rid of a bedbug infestation from your home, so it's wise to contact your local council or a pest control firm. Make sure any pest control company you contact is a member of the British Pest Control Association (check the credentials of the company first).

Some councils' pest control services treat homes for free, whether you are a council tenant or not. Other councils' services are free for council tenants only. Each treatment can cost between about £20 and £170, depending on your council's pest control prices, how bad the infestation is and how many rooms are affected. Pest controllers can usually get rid of bedbugs with two treatments.

A technician will carry out a thorough inspection, which may take a few hours. They will then use specially designed equipment such as insecticide, a steamer or rapid freeze system to get rid of the bugs.

If you insist on tackling the bugs yourself, the following advice may help:

if clothes or bedlinen have become infested, wash them at 60C, or put them in a dryer on a hot setting for 30 minutes to kill the bugs
dismantle your bed and furniture, and closely inspect every seam, crevice and joint using a bright torch
use a vacuum cleaner with a hose to suck up any bugs you can see, but bear in mind you may not be able to find them all – dispose of the contents of the vacuum cleaner in a sealed bag
to kill any remaining bugs, use insecticide spray specially designed for bedbugs – always read the label and never use this directly on clothing, linen or your mattress
be prepared to throw away a mattress if it appears to be heavily infested

Insecticide sprays may be becoming less effective as the bugs build resistance to them. Ordinary insect repellent for mosquitoes and ticks don't seem to be effective.

Preventing an infestation

It can be difficult to avoid bedbugs, as they can be transported so easily and may not be noticed immediately.

The best thing you can do is inspect your mattress regularly for common signs and take immediate action if necessary. Avoid buying second-hand mattresses and be wary of old beds you might be using in rented accommodation.

Keeping your bedroom tidy and removing clutter, especially from the floor and under your bed, reduces the amount of hiding places for bedbugs.

Treating bedbug bites

As many people don't react to bedbug bites, or only have the odd spot, treatment may not be needed.

If you develop very itchy bumps, your GP may prescribe some mild steroid cream to apply to your skin, or your pharmacist can recommend antihistamine tablets to relieve the itch. Your skin should clear up within a week.