Reports of a bedbug infestation sweeping public transport and spaces across Paris and France have many people’s skin crawling and have raised concern about the vampiric critters reaching the UK. But many Brits may be horrified to hear: they’re already living among you.
Background
Over 10% of French households are said to have experienced a bedbug infestation between 2017 and 2022, according to a report from ANSES, the French health and safety agency. In 2020 a helpline was established to tackle the issue.
But now, reports and social media posts demonstrating the creatures living on buses, trains, in cinemas, and in hospitals, just as the country prepares to welcome the world for the Olympics, have driven the Deputy Mayor of Paris to call for government intervention to rid the nation of the public health threat, which experts say the country will not have time to do before the sporting extravaganza.
The UK is as bad as France
“They’re already on buses, trains, tubes, cinemas, doctor’s surgeries, public spaces, hospitals,” said David Cain, microbiologist and founder of Bed Bugs Ltd. Speaking to Sky News, Cain estimated that the size of the UK’s problem was already as bad as that faced by its Gallic neighbours.
I think there’s probably a similar level of issue in London as there is in Paris at present.
David Cain, microbiologist and founder of Bed Bugs Ltd
Sawing through human skin
Bedbugs, from the Cimex genus, are reddish brown, wingless, insects between around a millimetre and a centimetre long. They feed at night using mouths that can saw through human skin and emit painkilling saliva and anticoagulants to enable them to drink human blood.
While they are not dangerous for most people’s health, bites are itchy and unpleasant. Getting rid of an infestation can take multiple, costly treatments, usually involving extreme temperatures or chemicals.
Is the problem really just as bad in Britain?
Cain put bed bug infestations in London at around 5% of households in the last two years, while Rentokil, another large pest management firm, says there has been a 65% increase in bedbug infestations just in the last year to September.
However, Natalie Bungay from the British Pest Control Association (BPCA) said this “rapid rise in call outs” could be down to increased summer travel, with people bringing the creatures that can survive journeys in luggage, clothing or on bodies and go for up to 70 days without feeding.
“Reports of bed bug activity tend to increase in the summer as people travel more,” Bungay said.
But with people who do not travel and non-car owners complaining of infestations, some speculate that increased summer temperatures and dense living accommodation are to blame for bedbug numbers going up.
Advice
The bedbug lifecycle is such that after about two months in your home, their population will double every two weeks. Regularly checking mattresses and bedding, for instance at least once a month, and hoovering or steam-cleaning is therefore vital to help keep properties bedbug-free.
The UK’s National Health Service recommends asking pest control for help, due to the time-consuming and incomplete nature of amateur attempts to eliminate the bugs. Unfortunately bedbugs have become resistant to pesticides.
Checking beds, linen and luggage when you go and stay somewhere is also important, to ensure you don’t bring unwanted visitors home in the first place.
Meanwhile, Eurostar continues to reassure passengers that its trains and textiles are cleaned using “hot-water injection and extraction” which the operator says “has proven highly effective in eliminating bugs.”
