bed bugs anyone!

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Here is a link to the cities in the US with the worst bed bug problem - if anyone finds a list of non-USA cities, please post! I hope I never have to deal with these pesky critters - seems like a real pain to eradicate them and very expensive too!
http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/am...ed-cities.html

[jmbklj]

Yes, I've seen this type of list before. Since I live in Ohio, I can't help but notice how high on the list several Ohio cities are. Thank goodness, most of my travel for work is outside of Ohio but occasionally it is in Ohio. First thing I do when I enter a hotel room is to pull the sheets back and look for evidence of bedbugs.

Even a movie theater in New York City was infested, so it's not just hotel rooms.

[jmbklj]

An informative article on the topic of bedbugs from WebMD...

http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-a...and-treatments

[kyshel]

Yes, I've seen this type of list before. Since I live in Ohio, I can't help but notice how high on the list several Ohio cities are. Thank goodness, most of my travel for work is outside of Ohio but occasionally it is in Ohio. First thing I do when I enter a hotel room is to pull the sheets back and look for evidence of bedbugs.

Even a movie theater in New York City was infested, so it's not just hotel rooms.

I realized that the infestation rate is based on the # of rooms per capita--most of the rooms in Cincinnati are not even in Ohio or within city limits, so how can that be a fair assessment?

[ShiningLight]

I realized that the infestation rate is based on the # of rooms per capita--most of the rooms in Cincinnati are not even in Ohio or within city limits, so how can that be a fair assessment?

When I see these things, I take it to be the metro area, as many hotels are outside city limits and near industrial & office locations. Ohio does seem to have quite a problem - but given that it is often a stopping point in East West car journeys and has airport hubs, not surprising.

People reporting through TripAdvisor, will mention if there is a problem, but one source attempts to look at buildings and areas, and now cruise ships. It's called http://bedbugregistry.com .

And the latest Jan/Feb issue of MONEY mag on pg 56, has a sensible article on bed bugs (doesn't seem to be on-line yet). Let's hope some of the cold temps in the northern latitudes are killing some. Alas, there doesn't seem to be any easy preventive spray or treatment available yet. Think people are wasting their money on such things currently being sold.

The buyer reviews at Magellan's for example are a joke - "I just bought some of your "BedBugBeGone" and haven't had to use it yet, but I feel so much better having it." A fool and her money....... The power of suggestion!!

What is scary too is people reporting allergic reactions to the bites and the meds given, with scaring on faces resulting. Four months ago I was put on a new medication, and in 2-3 wks had a rash break out that is still with me - just moving to different parts of the body, so these things can be a real problem.
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Kyshel, do you know of any preventive measures airlines are taking to deal with it? I think some people might pick them or the eggs up on airplanes, go to a hotel, and then bring them into rooms. A week later they show up to chow down.

[kyshel]

Good question, Shining Light. My answer:
well, my husband typically flies 4-5 trips a month. I fly one or two, pending season, often both of us stay in hotels in NY metro area, ATL and Detroit (often airline commuter hotels) as well as S-M-L hotels all over Europe and the LL properties we chose all over the world. I HAVE NEVER SEEN A BEDBUG. I have been to Cairo, South Africa, Dubai, Nice, Prague, Stockholm, Copenhagen, more...never had a bite, seen a bedbug.
I live in the Cincinnati metro area; I belong to several airline employee/family forums and I have YET to see a notice or mention of bedbug control/infestation issues in any of those sources. Nor have I had a bedbug encounter on a commuter, long haul or any flight--on any airline.
I belong to pilot wives' forum and they have not had an encounter mentioned and this "dilemma" is all the rage to becomes NEWS. News is news when it's not common.
PS--DL has new red blankets they've just introduced to AC. Maybe BB's don't like red? haha

I don't believe any of the Ohio airports are hubs for any major airlines.

[LL_Travelfan]

We do travel quite a bit in Europe and in the US, but I must say, I have never encountered a bedbug problem staying at any of the hotels.
On the other hand, I did pick up bedbugs in the Paris Metro back in the 1960ies during my student days, probably from some clochards/homeless people and brought them home to my small apartment. I had a devil of a time getting rid of them, and in the end, wound up having the place fumigated at great cost. It's not fun when you bring home bedbugs and introduce them to your own bedroom...

[ShiningLight]

[QUOTE I don't believe any of the Ohio airports are hubs for any major airlines.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for your reply. So far we haven't encountered any BBs yet either last summer & fall, but at Christmas time we were staying in a motel near family, in a college town, which during the school year often entertains visiting hockey & other sports teams. There have been complaints about this place when the teams are in residence - rowdiness & volume (depending upon the outcome of the game!). So this time we did poke about the mattresses & furniture with a little more thoroughness. Fortunately didn't find anything. There have been several reports of BBs in one of the airport motels close to us.

We did fly Delta via Cincinnati coming back from Hawaii - as we were told it was a hub for points to the West from the East. ???? Going, we left upstate NY to connect with a non-stop out of Atlanta, which was not only a good flight, but got us into Honolulu an hour ahead of when we would have otherwise - when it was still daylight/twilight.

I do believe bed bugs are a problem - it's just often a mystery exactly where they are picked up, as it can be several days between bite and itching/welt. It is a good idea if people can check abt sightings. Hotel managers would be wise however, to respond, and not try to hide or deny the problem. I'd much rather see a TripAdvisor response from a hotel saying they did respond to a report, by having several extermination visits and all was clear. Rather than nothing, and the public not knowing if the problem has been dealt with or swept under the rug, so to speak.

Hopefully the flight crew hotels are clear and the hardened steel doors are preventing BBs from getting into the cockpit! We can't have pilots distracted by itching all the way across the Atlantic, ;-)

Wish we had more than just paused in Cincinnati - would have run up to the Over the Rhine area for a stop at a fabulous bakery, across the street from a fabulous fabric store. Two bad habits in one location --- baaad.
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LL T- that BB experience is still worthy of sympathy, 40 yrs later. You're very brave to even consider travel again after that. Three cheers to you!

[omegaet]

Have yet to completely resolve Y2K problems on my computers! Once that is finished I will be attacking that abrasive and nagging matter of Mexican toilet paper.

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Here is a link to the cities in the US with the worst bed bug problem - if anyone finds a list of non-USA cities, please post! I hope I never have to deal with these pesky critters - seems like a real pain to eradicate them and very expensive too!
http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/am...ed-cities.html

[COLOR="blue"]Bed bug eradication, especially in Ohio.

Sounds like an area of concern.

Will be adding that matter to my list of travel concerns.

btw....at least that shoe fitting fluoroscope scare has finally died down!

[kyshel]

Shining Light--I know the bakery and the fabric store!!! This is home for me.
Sadly, CVG is no longer a DL hub airport. Since my husband flies for the largest airline in the world, I have that info on good authority! haha
The saddest part is that Comair (RJ Airline) has also moved its base from CVG, leaving DL with only one terminal. All part of process of taking over NW (some call it a merger) and making concessions for cities like MSP, DTW.
Back to the BB's--loved the comment about steel doors--I heard BB's can get thru anything!!