What do you do when you have bed bugs in your apartment?

These uninvited guests in your house can cause sleepless nights. 

While a bedbug infestation may not sound like the biggest problem on your plate, the US Environmental Protection Agency defines it as a “public health issue.” 

Bedbugs are parasitic creatures that attach themselves to your living space and can affect your health. Allergic reactions to their bites, secondary skin infections from bites, and mental health problems such as anxiety and insomnia are among the most common consequences of a bedbug infestation, according to the EPA website. 

Are you wondering what to do when you encounter this specific problem? We’ve got you. 

Bob Leon, an entomologist and operations manager at Ecologic Entomology, a Massachusetts-based pest control company, answers common questions about bedbugs and what to do in case of an infestation.

(This interview has been lightly edited and condensed.)

Q. How do you identify that you have bedbugs in your living space? 

A. Bedbugs are visible to the naked eye. They are approximately the size of an apple seed. The first thing people should do is enlist a professional to do a thorough inspection. Sometimes people may feel itchy and like something bit them. In that case, they will automatically assume it was a bedbug. It could have been fleas or mosquitoes, so you want to be certain that it is bedbugs before you endeavor to do any treatments. 

Q. What is the treatment process once you confirm you have bedbugs?

A. Well, our protocol generally involves three treatments with pesticides, and they are generally about a week apart. First, there is some preparation on the homeowner’s or tenant’s part in which they have to launder their clothing. It is really the high heat of the dryer that is important when it comes to the laundry. Second, we send in one of our pest control technicians. We treat bed frames. We treat the furniture. We may be treating wall voids, anywhere where bedbugs could be hiding. They love to hide in little cracks and seams in furniture, in bed frames, sometimes even under the cuffs of the mattress. 

Q.  Do the tenants have to move out of the apartment during the treatments?

A. Yes, they need to be out for a period of four to six hours with each treatment. 

Q. What precautionary measures can one take to ensure you don’t have bed bugs? 

A.  First of all, be very vigilant, especially if you travel, have guests, or visit somebody that you know has had a bedbug problem. You want to take precautions and make sure you are inspecting, especially if you travel. You want to inspect your suitcase and your belongings before you empty them out and put them back in the closets. Bedbugs travel very easily. They are easy to transfer from one person to another and one place to another. We always suggest a very thorough vacuuming on a regular basis. 

Q. Are bedbugs a hygiene issue?

A. No, they are not. If you introduce bedbugs into your apartment, and it is very cluttered, that makes it more difficult to detect the problem. Once you find the problem, if everything is cluttered, that makes it more difficult to solve the problem. But that is not what draws in bedbugs.

Q. What causes them in the first place? 

A. They are great travelers. They have to be physically introduced; they are not flying insects. Somebody living in that apartment visits somebody that has them and brings them back. You can pick them up in a hotel. You can pick them up on a plane, on the subway, in a theater. They have been called the “Great Hitchhikers,” and they really are. 

Q. How do bedbugs affect people?

A. Well, they are not really spreading any disease to humans, but when you have bedbugs, it brings about a lot of anxiety. It brings about sleepless nights, and that is what will affect people. 

Bob Leon can be reached at [email protected].