Sleeping tight could get you a bite at hotel
Ron Mizutani
http://www.khon.com/khon/displayStory.cfm?storyID=13743
It is a health issue affecting the hotel industry worldwide, including
our tourism hub of Waikiki.
Bed bugs.
Some of the cases have resulted in lawsuits against hotels, one filed
just recently.
Waikiki hotels have been fighting this fight for years.
It's estimated that 75 to 80 percent of all hotels are dealing with
bedbugs to some degree.
It's your typical Waikiki hotel room -- a simple one bedroom with all
the amenities, including two double beds.
"You want to look at the folds and pull it up, you want to look under
these areas here," advises David Lau, EcoLab.
David Lau of EcoLab is searching for bedbugs.
"What you have to do is you have to pull up the bed skirts as well
because not only the mattresses, they also like to hide in the box
springs as well," says Lau.
There's nothing on this bed, but here's what he's looking for: small,
brownish, flattened insects that feed on the blood of animals, mainly
people.
"You pull back the headboard and they'll usually be in here, right in
these areas here," says Lau. "All these cracks and crevices here, all
in here you've got to inspect. You might even see it in the picture
frame."
Adult bedbugs are about a quarter inch long and are often mistaken for
ticks, even cockroaches.
"They get their fill, they go back to their harborage area and they
defecate, and what they're defecating is the blood," says Lau.
It's one of the signs of a problem. Infestations tend to be around
beds, but not always.
"You look at the curtains. They like to hide underneath here," says
Lau. "Sometimes they crawl up and you'll find them in here."
Female bedbugs lay five eggs a day and 500 during a lifetime.
"Inside the outlets you'll find them in here too," says Lau.
And that's not all.
"Ironing boards."
Bedbugs are efficient hitchhikers, usually transported in luggage and
clothing.
"It has nothing to do with sanitation, proper hygiene or cleanliness,"
says Lau.
Victims seldom know they've been bitten. Symptoms vary with each
person, but most develop an itchy, red welt. This room is bedbug-free,
but some in Waikiki aren't.
"It's not a matter of if you have bedbugs, it's when you're going to
have bedbugs, so education and training has to keep going even though
you don't have an issue right now," says Lau.
In the meantime, sleep tight and...
"Don't let the bedbugs bite," says Lau.
Bedbugs can live dormant for about a year. In other words, without a
blood meal. If you suspect a problem call a professional.
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