Chicago vs. Bed Bugs

ABC7 News reported last night that a guest at the Sheraton Chicago Northwest in Arlington Heights awakened to find multiple bites on her body and at least three bed bugs in her bed during a recent stay at the hotel:

Angella Alston of Cincinnati says she was in Arlington Heights this weekend for a funeral staying at the Sheraton northwest hotel when she woke up to see her body full of bites. She stripped the bed and found three bed bugs on the sheet.

“I have nine bites on my right leg. I have nine on my right arm. I have like 12 on my left leg. And about eight on the inner of my left arm,” said Alston.

Unfortunately, what Angella Alston experienced this weekend is becoming a common occurrence, not just in Chicagoland, and not just in hotels, either.  Why?  Well, according to Bed Bugs: A systemic pest within society, a 2006 American Entomologist article written by Stephen A. Kells, it’s all about human interconnectedness.  Where there are humans, there are (and always have been) bed bugs:

Recent evidence shows several examples of systemic bed bug activity and illustrates just how interconnected society has become, emphasizing the need for this pest to be considered and treated as a pest of public health importance to be prevented.

Humans give bed bugs an infinite number of harborages and nesting sites, along with various modes and opportunities for them to move between these sites.

Temporary habitation sites are varied and include lodging establishments such as hotels or temporary resting sites such as movie theatres. Temporary sites may also include transportation venues, such as bus stations, airports, and taxi stands: locations where people remain seated or standing for varying periods of time (minutes to hours). Personal effects and baggage that are carried or stored in luggage racks, lockers, and cargo holds also function as temporary sites.

The hotel industry has received much negative publicity involving bedbugs. However, other more important temporary and reservoir sites need to be identified, particularly if infestations continue to be poorly regarded. The temporary site model does not apply exclusively to hotels; other examples include backpack hostels, homeless shelters, assisted living or treatment centers, and other institutions, including medical and psychiatric hospitals.

Kells makes some critical points here, folks:

• The single common factor in the spread of bed bug infestations is people.  We provide modes of transport, we provide hiding places, and we provide the preferred source of sustenance: our blood.
• Although the hotel industry continues to be targeted by the media as a primary source of bed bug infestations, other, less conspicuous venues are at least as susceptible to bed bugs and perhaps even more likely to contribute to the spread: hospitals, long-term care facilities, shelters, and many others.
• This pest must be considered and treated as a pest of public health importance to be prevented.

The good news, at least in terms of the recent incident at the Sheraton Chicago Northwest, is that the hotel appears to be handling the situation in a manner that’s consistent with generally accepted best management protocol:

Antoinette DeLauro Smith, spokesperson for the Sheraton, said, “We have the room sealed as well as the nine surrounding it and our partners with Ecolabs, a pest control company, are on site doing the fumigating and sanitizing. The rooms will be closed for four to six weeks.”

These measures are incredibly important, because bed bugs can travel through walls and into adjoining rooms in any multi-occupancy dwelling.  But these measures are also incredibly expensive.  Imagine the revenue foregone by a month-long shutdown of at least ten hotel rooms during peak travel season!  Couple this with the cost of professional pest management services for all ten rooms, and then add the potential residual loss of revenue perpetuated by repeated media exposure, and the sum of it all equals quite a financial wallop for the Sheraton Chicago Northwest, doesn’t it?

I can’t help but wonder how long this can go on.  How many hotels can sustain this kind of financial blow before collapsing?  How many vacations will be disrupted or ruined or canceled?  How many lawsuits will be filed?  How many hundred-thousand-dollar settlements will be made between bed bug victims and business owners?

I suppose that Stephen Kells might have provided the answer way back in 2006.  I suppose it might just depend on how long it takes for our governments– federal, state, city, town, and village– to consider bed bugs pests of public health importance and to treat bed bug infestations accordingly.

So, Chicagoans, have you noticed these nifty new ads on the CTA?  Seems to me that they began to appear a few weeks ago, and now, it seems to me that they’ve virtually taken over the Red and Brown Lines.

Believe me, folks, it’s no coincidence that Protect-A-Bed is suddenly advertising– with a vengeance– in the City of Chicago.  They’re doing it for a very good reason:  They know what’s coming, and so should you.

This leads me to photo number two, taken a couple of weeks ago, again on the North Side.

What’s the deal with pitching futon cushions?  I suppose this might just be coincidence, and people are tossing perfectly good furniture because they can afford to do so.  But somehow, I have a hard time believing that’s the case, especially considering the current economic situation.

Listen,  if you take nothing else from this post, please take this:

Do not throw your furniture away if you think or know it is infested with bed bugs unless you do so at the suggestion and under the direct supervision of an experienced, trained, qualified pest management professional.  It’s usually not necessary to throw your belongings away and if you do, you could spread bed bugs throughout your building and throughout your city.

Mattresses and box springs can typically be safely sealed with zippered encasements– I happen to really like Protect-A-Bed’s AllerZip Encasement, to be honest– and used during and after treatment for bed bugs, as long as your pest management professional says it’s okay.  So save your stuff, Chicagoans, if at all possible.  You might just save your neighbors, too.

Yep, it’s true, at least according to the March 25, 2009 edition of Loyola University Chicago’s student newspaper, The Phoenix.

Rayna Costanzo, in Don’t let the bed bugs bite: A reemergence of the pests puts residents on alert says

Brian Johnson, associate director of Residence Life, said Loyola has had problems with bed bugs in the past, most recently this January.

“Whenever we have a suspected bed bug problem, we immediately call in the extermination company that works with the institution,” Johnson said. “The company will set traps, inspect the apartment and determine what the problem is.”

It’s really important to hire a professional pest management company with experience and training in treating bed bug infestations. As long as Loyola’s extermination company fills the bill, they’re on the right track.

I can’t help but wonder about those traps, though.  See, traps that are commonly used to detect roaches and other bugs just don’t work with bed bugs.  That’s because bed bugs aren’t attracted to them.  Bed bugs feed solely on the blood of humans, remember, so they’re attracted to, well, us.  Perhaps Loyola’s exterminator uses a trap that’s specifically designed for bed bugs, like the CDC 3000, which “mimics the presence of a human body” by emitting “CO2, heat, and the chemical equivalent to body odor to attract even incipient levels of bed bugs.”

In any case, it sounds like the folks over at Loyola take great measures to prevent the spread of bed bugs throughout campus:

If bed bugs are found in an apartment on campus, Johnson said that students are relocated and are not permitted to bring anything out of the room in order to prevent the highly transmittable bugs from spreading.

This is a really, really good idea.  This, however, might not be:

Furniture is discarded, mattresses are discarded and the carpet is steam cleaned throughout the apartment,” Johnson said.

Steam cleaning? Good. Discarding furniture and mattresses? Not so good, unless it’s done at the suggestion and under the direct supervision of a qualified pest management professional. Why? Because bed bug infestations are spread throughout cities (and college campuses, I’d guess) on infested furniture that’s been discarded without proper sealing and without proper warning to people who might pick it up and take it home with them. Infested furniture must be sealed– and I’m talking airtight, people– before it’s discarded, because bed bugs and eggs can fall off during the disposal process. Think of all the places that might exposed to bed bugs when furniture is dragged outside: hallways, other rooms, lobbies… Who knows?

I can’t help but think that it would be fantastic if our city made all of this information– along with a standard protocol for people to follow and maybe some mattress stickers (Caution!  Bed Bugs!) and maybe even a hotline for people to call to report bed bug infestations and request information about how to handle them properly– easily accessible to the general public.  So does at least one Loyola student, and I don’t blame her a bit.  Phoenix editor LeeAnn Maton says

…Illinois officials have been recieving a relatively high volume of complaints for a year.  A year? Couldn’t we have a tracking system in place by now? Or an Excel spreadsheet at least? As a Chicago resident, I’d love to know what buildings near me are infested. You know, so I can avoid, say, moving into one.

A city-wide publicity campaign to educate citizens about the signs, symptoms and preventative measures is long overdue.

A centralized resource for handling bed bug complaints is also necessary. Currently, the Chicago Department of Health doesn’t handle complaints because bed bugs, though disgusting, don’t carry or spread diseases.

LeeAnn sounds a heck of a lot like some other people we know. Ahem.

It sounds to me like Loyola’s on top of the problem on its campus.  Let’s hope the City of Chicago follows suit, soon, or Loyola– and lots of other people– will be dealing with bed bugs all over again.