Bites

[gypsy9]

Stayed in municipal inSJPP recently and was itching the whole night—didn’t sleep much and couldn’t ID any bedbugs—awoke w about nine large round welts—sore and itchy...are they from spiders ? Lass in above bunk had no problems—they disappeared after three days and no further “incidents”—i don’t do well w any toxins to treat linen etc—wondering about citronella as a topical treatment (preventative). Obviously not lethal but it does sink the spirits when insects make war on your body....I use and like a silk liner

 

[C clearly]

Likely bedbugs. Many people do not react at all to them. Bedbugs need access to your body so any bag - silk or not - will reduce access but you still need air at night!. There is no evidence of citronella's effectiveness against bedbugs, but it can repel many humans.

 

[trecile]

If you have bites that you can't identify, you should assume that they could be bedbug bites and takes steps to eliminate any traces from your gear. Put everything that can go into a hot dryer on high temp (60 degrees C) for half an hour. You don't need to wash the clothes first. What I did last year when I had suspicious bites was to take everything washable to a self service laundry. All of my clean clothes went into the hot dryer for half an hour. I then changed into those clothes, and washed what I was wearing, and everything else that needed to be laundered. You don't need to wash on hot, but everything needs to go into a HOT dryer for at least 30 minutes. All of my clothing and sleeping gear were able to handle the high heat, including my silk sleep sack, down blanket and merino wool sweater and other clothing.

If the weather is hot enough, put your backpack and everything else into a black plastic garbage can liner, seal it up, and put it in the hot sun for several hours. You are trying to get the contents to at least 50 C for half an hour. If it's not warm enough for this step you can put everything into the bag and spray it with DEET insecticide and leave it as long as possible.
More info: https://www.bedbugs.umn.edu/bed-bug-control-in-residences/laundering

 

[nidarosa]

Bedbug bites can show up as much as five days after you have been bitten, I can confirm that from my own experience. In my case I knew for certain when I had been bitten as I saw them - and killed them and collected them and showed them to the hospi, who then took appropriate steps to de-bug my stuff as well as the dorm. Just because you start itching in one town doesn't mean you were bitten there.

And please everyone, check your beds, mattresses and surroundings for bugs before you start spraying toxins on beds that others will be sleeping on the next night, imagine the build-up over time. One of the reasons bedbugs are spreading the way they are, is that they are becoming resistent to our insecticides, so don't spread it about. Spray your own sleeping bag/liner if you want, or put deterrents on yourself, but not on everyone else. And if you find bugs, don't just leave - tell the hospitaler@ and give them a chance to deal with it.

 

[gypsy9]

In error I made the post before adding some more information:
the bites were only on my face— they didn’t linger so I assume they weren’t bed bugs

I didn’t see any on my bed or surroundings

Thanks for tips
I love the smell of citronella
Some humans are getting up at 4 a.m!!

 

[Marbe2]

If you have bites that you can't identify, you should assume that they could be bedbug bites and takes steps to eliminate any traces from your gear. Put everything that can go into a hot dryer on high temp (60 degrees C) for half an hour. You don't need to wash the clothes first. What I did last year when I had suspicious bites was to take everything washable to a self service laundry. All of my clean clothes went into the hot dryer for half an hour. I then changed into those clothes, and washed what I was wearing, and everything else that needed to be laundered. You don't need to wash on hot, but everything needs to go into a HOT dryer for at least 30 minutes. All of my clothing and sleeping gear were able to handle the high heat, including my silk sleep sack, down blanket and merino wool sweater and other clothing.

If the weather is hot enough, put your backpack and everything else into a black plastic garbage can liner, seal it up, and put it in the hot sun for several hours. You are trying to get the contents to at least 50 C for half an hour. If it's not warm enough for this step you can put everything into the bag and spray it with DEET insecticide and leave it as long as possible.
More info: https://www.bedbugs.umn.edu/bed-bug-control-in-residences/laundering

When I was severely bitten by bedbugs (over 40 bites,) my body reacted within an hour! It was about 2am! No way was I staying in our room (private Albergue) till the sunrise. Luckily, everything we had (except what we were wearing) was sealed in small plastic bags. We killed at least 5 or 6 bugs (with my blood in them) which had been crawling up the walls. We left them there in plain site for housekeeping to see, as we did not want to wake up the entire staff. We placed our sleeping clothes in a separate bag plastic with several deet wipes in the bag, sealed everything up and left somewhere between 3 and 4 am by headlights. We could not get out of there fast enough. Given the number of bites and the number of bugs I killed, it is hard for me to believe that the owner did not know that there was a problem? We certainly left evidence of them!! Unfortunately there are some albergues that continually have problems!

 

[Anniesantiago]

Personally, I would not take any chances in carrying bedbugs home to my house.
I would take all precautions, washing and drying every thing, just as though I knew I had bedbugs.