Oh yikes. Check your bed. Pull the fitted sheet and check above and under the seam on the mattresses. Look between mattress and box spring. They will hide.

These these petrify me. I have read they are next to impossible to get rid of even for a bug company.

Want to add that it doesn't surprise me to find them in a library. Its a wide spread problem.

Mamapinky, they are not next to impossible to get rid of. But, yes, it is horrible. The sooner you find them the better. We own rental properties and luckily it was found early in one of the apartments..

I worked in a group home and it took months to clear up the problem. Evidently it was brought i by one of the part-time workers.

Just repeating what I watched on the news.

Is it true they hide in the walls?

Eta I imagine it'd much harder in a house full of furniture and belonging. ...regardless..creepy.

I saw this today and made sure that my dd didn't go to that library and she doesn't. We have a problem at the school I work at with a kid that comes to school with bed bugs. His belongs all get put in a expensive tub that is sealed.

Watchme, your empathy for the less fortunate and down and out is heartwarming.

Bed bugs are a problem for everyone. Rich poor clean dirty....matter of fact folks that can afford travel have a higher incident of the bugs.

So in fact a rich person could have taken the bed bugs to the library just the same as a homeless.

So Lucille. Do you ride the bus like my senior friend and have to sit near a person who has soiled their pants or is covered with vomit? Do you have to ride rapid transit in your area where a person literally crawling with visible bugs was reported by a passenger and the response was "lice are not a public health hazard"? Do your children live in decent neighborhoods that were once clean and safe until the homeless set up their camps with piles of trash, vicious dogs and needles and bottles on the ground? Do you have crazies come up to your vehicle when you have to pump gas?

Yes. I agree. Have a little empathy. For decent hard working people who are working, paying taxes and trying to raise their children and keep them safe.

Roadshow: BART ignores seat hogs, lice-riddled rider, passenger ...

https://www.mercurynews.com/.../roadshow-bart-ignores-complaints-of-seat-hogs-lice...

Jun 7, 2017 - As for the lice, Jim-the-BART Man said: “Lice do not represent a dire public health hazard. They give people the creeps but can't kill you.”

Watchme, I was a school nurse for many years. I intentionally chose poverty ridden inner city schools, where there are many of those problems and many homeless children in the school itself, because I wanted to make a difference.

I bought plenty of breakfasts for children with my own funds before free breakfasts were widespread. I sent checks to pharmacists for prescribed antibiotics.

And I saw more head lice than I can say.

The parents of the children in my school whether they had homes or not, the vast majority were hard working people who were working, paying taxes, and trying to raise their children and keep them safe. Poor and/or minority parents are no different from any other parents as far as wanting the best for their children.

And parents and others recognize empathy. I made many, many home visits, some through broken bottle, needle infested, gang neighborhood apartments. The neighborhood knew who I was, and never once did I fear for my safety. In fact, come Christmas, there was a parade of home baked goodies wrapped in paper towels sent by the moms via their children.

Mama has an excellent point that a rich person could well have brought the bedbugs in the first place.

Irregardless of your rant and exaggerations, I have to agree with Lucille. It’s not just this thread it’s any thread that is about something that deserves empathy and/or compassion. You really just seem to have no clue Watchmelol. If I were in your shoes, which I am soooo thankful I’m not, I would worry about Karma. Besides, what makes you think that bedbugs discriminate? People with means get bedbugs just as often as those who are less fortunate. Travel abroad? Like those Air BNB’s? How about an affordable or even unaffordable hotel while traveling? Do you like to buy sofa’s and upholstered seating from say, criags list or garage sales? No one is exempt from possible exposure. I’ve even seen a few of the doctor offices I go to for work have to deal with bedbugs; mostly with those compfy seats in their lobby.

Bed bugs are a hitchhiker. They don't care how clean or dirty someone is. YOUR blood is just as tasty as someone dirty. Bed bugs don't choose their host based on anything other than you breath and your in the same place as they are. Last I read bed bugs were almost an epidemic in the USA.

They are extremely hard to rid your home of and very expensive and time consuming. Bug companies most often use two treatment plans...both chemical and heat..even tban there's no guarantee they will be successful. Approx cost is between 200&300) per room.

Look it up...it would be a nightmare.

Hotels...low cost and high end both get bed bugs.

In your home they hide...in beds, walls, electrical outlets, electronics. If a credit card can slide in so can a bed bug. They can infest your entire home.

Good news is they don't carry anything like fleas,ticks, and mosquitos do. The danger to you would only be from scratching and possibly causing infection.

Checked the seam around your mattress or between the mattress and box spring lately?

Lol...

I would like to add that someone soiling themselves or vomiting on the bus, or communities with needles and bottles, are complex problems. That person on the bus is someone's son or daughter, and may be someone's mother or father. The persons described may be ill, or poor, or addicts, or overwhelmed.

They deserve our help. And those you describe as 'crazies', may indeed be mentally ill, and may have no idea how to get help. And mental illness, just like bedbugs, does not discriminate. People in all walks of life are mentally ill, how is it fair that only those with money and insurance get treated?

It may seem sometimes that if we work hard for our pie, we end up giving a slice to the government, a slice to our church, a slice to the needy, a slice to our parents and children, some people give a whole slice to their dog.

And (excepting possibly the IRS) you certainly have a choice: You can take your pie into a gated community and leave it in your locked house so that if by chance you see a needy miserable person on the bus you can just make a face and move to a different seat, knowing your pie is safe at home and you didn't have to share it.

Or you can with joy hand out slices and perhaps end up happier, by seeing all the good you have brought to others.

Very well said Lucille!

I applaud Lucille.

From what I've read, bedbugs can be found in every socioeconomic group. They are gross, but at least they are not a health threat.

I'm understanding and give money to help people in less advantaged circumstances. That doesn't mean I want to go into the restroom at the library to find someone bathing from the sink (I experienced that once). Or that I want to share a tight spot (public transport) with someone either offensively dirty or crawling with bugs.

It's a breakdown in public services but that can be a slippery slope because overly generous services can increase numbers. We should care for those suffering from mental or medical conditions and give others a chance to clean up and work. If even on road crews picking up trash.

Bedbugs? Too much fear mongering. I travel a lot, stay in many hotels, have never had an issue. And when found, they can be eliminated with fumigation and other techniques. Case closed.

Oh Jeez, why does everything have to turn into an argument with moral/political undertones. Sorry I posted this.

Don’t be sorry ladypat. Threads always have a way of taking on a life of their own, that’s part of what makes them interesting.

I read about a fungus that apparently is being developed in Penn State has been tested and effectively fights bed bugs.

https://news.psu.edu/story/507120/2018/02/26/impact/startup-success-bedbug-treatment-developed-penn-state-shows-market

Don't be sorry Ladypat. Many of us read the whole thing and still hear the meaning of the original post. (eta jinx lukki. ;)

I for one enjoy learning the diverse thinking of a wide group of people.

Lively debate invigorates me. It doesn't offend me.

Bedbug populations have turned up at our libraries, movie theaters, and hospitals. I was sitting in the waiting room of a radiology imaging center in my city and a teensy critter crawling on the opposite wall caught my eye. I went over to see.....sure enough, a bedbug nymph.

I whispered my observation to someone behind the counter and she retorted that there were no bedbugs in their facility. I said, "Well, you have one! ;-)

I am most apprehensive of them when traveling, and always do a room search before unpacking.

I read there is a website to look up if hotels have had bedbugs. I don’t have to worry- my teenage son has checked mattress seems ( he’s a Hotel Impossivke fan). Our discount movie theatre had bedbug issue according to local rumor.

Oh I bet lots of theatres have bed bugs. When my daughter worked in a theatre as a teen, she said they had mice really bad, and they would run across the feet of customers. Ueek!Gonna wrap my house in plastic and stay home!

not long ago... maybe just before school started again. story on philly news. woman made video of sea on a SEPTA bus... it was CRAWLING with the things!! you'd think someone would have thought/KNOWN fabric is NOT what you want on seat on public transportation.

I do not use that specific library but do use libraries within that county system. I have 2 books checked out now and am on the waiting list for many more. They have a lot of inter-library book transfers so I am very uncomfortable with the whole thing.

I considered transferring the books to a zip-lock bag immediately after picking them up from the library, thinking I could see any activity after a couple of days. Then I realized this method wouldn't address eggs. Freezing doesn't do any good. Microwaving would damage public property.

I'm really at a loss on what to do other than get a Kindle. Suggestions anyone?

Side note, I should not have researched this topic right after breakfast. Blech.

I never thought my Kindle would replace real books, and I love real books, but this past year other than real books that I actually own I have read exclusively Kindle books. I borrow books from my library system all the time and I'm on the waitlist for several.

So Kindle = more convenience and no possibility of bugs.

But there are so many possible ways for bedbugs to get into a house- in grocery bags or boxes, Amazon boxes, brought in by friends/handymen/relatives who unknowingly have some in/on their bags and purses or clothes, by having one (eek) crawl on you while you take a Lyft ride and so you yourself bring one in.

I have also heard that they are difficult and expensive to get rid of.