My son has been backpacking through Europe, staying mostly in hostels. Been London, various cities in Germany, Prague, Copenhagen and now Italy. Suddenly he’s got bug bites on his arm which is threatening his access to hostels. Any one out there have any knowledge/comment about this? Do hostels typically have problems with bugs? If so what kind. Any ideas w/regard to what kind of treatment will help and where to get it. He’s in Rome today.
It sounds like they are worried that your son has bedbugs. They can hide in his clothes and personal effects like books, computers and souvenirs. From there, they can colonize new locations. The hostels don’t want him there because they don’t have bedbugs and they think he’ll bring them in. It can be hard to rid a property of bedbugs. Pesticides aren’t that effective against them. Prolonged application of heat works but its hard to fit a whole hostel in an oven. It’s easier for them to just exclude anyone that might be carrying bedbugs in their clothes or belongings.
To avoid future bedbug problems, my wife recommends that he check his bedding very carefully at each new destination for any small bugs themselves, bug eggs, or – the most common indicator – small dark spots (bloodstains) on the sheets or mattress.
The easiest way for him to get rid of the bedbugs now is probably to put everything he owns simultaneously into the largest commercial dryers he can find and run them for two or three cycles. They can nest in things like computers and I don’t have any idea how to rid them from there.
You need to hold the temperature at around 115 F / 46 C for ~ 10 minutes. Computer will handle this easily if turned off.
I think they in some ways are being over cautious.
First, bed bugs do not live on people. They bite you and leave. They can’t fly and even have trouble climbing up metal.
As for clothing, carrying your clothes and items in a washable duffle bag will solve this. Just wash the clothes in hot water and dry them in a dryer for an hour will kill them and the eggs.
Bed bugs themselves are not hard to kill. One part alcohol to one part water will kill them as will pesticides. The problem is not really the bugs but the eggs. They can go dormant for 18 months.
Alcohol and water solution while effective against the bugs isn’t against the eggs.
Bed bugs usually live within 10 feet of their host and prefer to nest in wood and papers, but will live in clutter. In reality a hostile would be more likely to get roaches from a computer or boxes than bed bugs, but it is very possible.
My solution is to limit your clutter to places off the hostel property.
Wow, I can’t imagine being turned away at a hostel for having bug bites- I would have spent half of my travels sleeping on park benches. In my day we just got bedbugs and we were happy about it.
If he wants to know if they are actually bedbug bites, usually they form a straight line. I don’t think the arm is a usually place for them to bite, though.