Have any of you ever had your own experience with bed bugs?

If you are like most people, the answer is probably a quick yes. Furthermore, if you have been paying attention to the news in recent years, you have probably noticed quite a few stories about bed bugs. Bed bugs are nasty little critters that have six legs, hide during the day, and drink your blood at night.

The typical bed bug is a reddish-brown insect that grows to be about 0.2 inches big. When they bite you, bed bugs inject you with an anticoagulant so that the blood keeps flowing as they drink. This anticoagulant also contains a numbing agent so that the bedbug victim does not feel it while the bed bug attacks.

While bed bugs are not known to spread disease to humans, they can act as a host carrier and transfer Hepatitis B as well as Chagas’ disease. Bed bug bites typically affect only the surface of your skin, and are quite itchy and red. Even if you do not contract a disease from any of the bed bug bites you may have endured, they are nasty little welts that you can usually treat yourself.

However, if you have an excessive amount of bed bug bites, you will definitely want to see your doctor. You will also want to check with your doctor if you feel that you are having an allergic reaction. There are several risk factors which can increase your chances of experiencing a and attack.

These factors include the climate, the type of housing you have, and if you live with pets, which are excellent bed bug carriers. Bed bugs typically thrive in tropical areas, but can be found all over the world. Bed bugs often travel from climate to climate when they attach themselves to the luggage of travelers.

Bed bugs are also the happiest in apartments and homeless shelters, which have a higher turnover than houses and other types of living quarters. When traveling, it is important to keep an eye out for bed bug infestations when staying at even the nicest hotels. You may remember a story in the news back in 2006 in which a woman sued a hotel after she suffered more than 500 bed bug bites.

Leslie Fox, a Chicago woman, sued the Nevele Hotel in Ellenville, New York for more than $20 million after she claims that she was practically eaten alive during her four nights at the hotel. Fox’s experience is not the only bed bug outbreak in the United States in recent years, as several outbreaks have been documented in New York alone. In late 2007, there was another bed bug epidemic in New York City, which affected a Park Avenue penthouse, a Central Park West duplex (a $25 million duplex!), a theatre on Broadway, and even an artist’s colony in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

With bed bugs, there is no social separation and they certainly don’t care if you are rich or poor, clean or unkempt. As long as you have blood, they will drink it. In 2007, New York City experienced more than 6,800 infestation complaints and thousands of building owners were hit with summonses.

One of the most recent instances of bed bugs in the news was literally in the news – Fox News that is. In March 2008 it was reported that the Midtown Manhattan newsroom maintained by Fox News had become infested with bed bugs. Although it did take several weeks, sources at the newsroom have shared with the public that Fox News is now bed bug free!

Aside from bites on the skin in the morning, there are other signs that you may have a bed bug infestation in your home. You should keep a lookout for small bloodstains on sheets and mattresses, which result from the bed bug bites. Also, you may see specks of blood behind wallpaper and other areas where the bed bugs may congregate.

You should also look for insect excrement where the bed bugs may hide. Lastly, bed bugs secrete an oil that has an intense sweet odor. If you think you might have a bed bug infestation in your home, you will definitely need to have your home inspected either by you or a professional.

It is important to remember that bed bugs are active only at night, so during the day it may be a little more difficult for you to locate them, so it may be beneficial to do the search at night. When you do inspect your home, be sure to check in mattresses, furniture, bedding, and the crevices of walls. It is from these areas that the bed bugs will emerge at night to feast on your blood as you sleep and relax.

Waking up in the morning with small bites all over your body is a sure sign you may have a bed bug infestation. From Ellis M. My wife and I travel a lot and we’ve recently seen a trend of hotels claiming they are bed bug free.

I didn’t even know bed bugs were still a problem in this country. But then sure enough, in a hotel in New York, we had a bed bug problem in our room. My wife woke up in the middle of the night and jumped out of the bed screaming!

“Something is crawling on me! Something is crawling on me!” I figured it was he imagination and told her to go back to sleep.

She made me turn on the lights and sweep the bed sheets. There was nothing there so we went back to sleep. A few hours later when we woke up, both of us had welts all over our legs and back.

Immediately, I knew it was bed bugs & I called the front desk. They offered to move us to a new room but my wife was convinced the whole hotel was infested. And I couldn’t disagree with her.