It’s officially fall, and you know what that means—the 2018 school year has begun! Most parents will agree that one of the things they dread most about the school year is the constant exchange of germs from kid to kid, eventually leaving your own child sick with the flu or a cold. Germs aren’t the only thing we should be worried about getting passed around. There is another threat that is lurking in schools… bed bugs!
Bed bugs in schools? You probably thought bed bugs were only found in, well, beds. They are actually really common wherever there is a lot of human traffic, places such as malls, movie theaters, and yes, schools. Bed bugs are spread just as easily as germs because they are excellent hitchhikers. All they need is a human host and they can travel between sources on fabrics, bags, purses, and coats etc. Then when you arrive home, they enter with you and begin to rapidly reproduce.
The only way you can actually make sure your child doesn’t pick up bed bugs from school is to not send them. But that’s not really an option, is it? So, as a parent, there are prevention strategies that could stop bed bugs from getting onto your child and being brought back into your home. For starters, tell your children to never leave their backpacks on the floor but rather hang them up on hooks. The same goes for jackets. Tell them not to throw them in a heap or overlap with other kids’ coats on the hangers. It will also help to inspect belongings before entering the home and to wash jackets and bags frequently.
It also helps to be knowledgeable of the signs of an infestation and how to identify bed bug bites if need be. The sooner you become aware of the problem, the easier it will be to get on top of it. Bed bug bites are different for every person: some people are highly sensitive and will not be able to stop itching whereas others won’t even realize they were bitten until days later, and perhaps not ever. This is because of the varying amounts of anticoagulant bed bugs inject into the skin. Usually, there will be numerous bed bug bites at once, either in a line or in clumps, during night time, because bed bugs are nocturnal and they try to get as much blood as possible in order to reproduce. The bites will be red, itchy, swollen welts and may become painful. Other signs of bed bugs include tiny spots of blood on your sheets, bed bug skins, or the bugs themselves. If you notice any of these, check under your beds, around frames, and in the seams or cording around mattresses. These are the places where bed bugs reside the most.
Again, the quicker you notice any of these signs, the quicker you can take action by contacting Big Blue Bug Solutions, South Portland’s local pest control company. You can trust our professionals to eradicate any bed bugs in your home using only the safest and most effective methods. If you are interested in learning more about what we do to take control of bed bugs, contact us at Big Blue Bug Solutions today.