Question by Ben G:
How Likely is it That I Have Bed Bugs?
I stayed at a friends house on Monday night. He told me on Wednesday that he thinks they might have bed bugs. I did not go in his room which is upstairs, and slept on the couch which is downstairs when I stayed. Today, which is Thursday I found three or four bites on my back. What is the likelihood that I was only bitten when I was over there? How likely is it that I carried them back to my place? I’m stresing over this like crazy! Please help!
Best answer:
Answer by RhiiRhi
bed bugs are massive, like cockroaches, calm down.
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check your bed because that’s where their most likely are, try cleaning your house, vacuum if you have rugs, wash and dry your bedsheets and that on high heat. if you check the seam of your bed you can find them there, since its recent you might not have a lot or none at all but just to be safe raid your bed seams.
The odds are very low that you carried bed bugs home with you. However, it pays to be cautious since extermination can cost upwards of $ 1000 or more. I’d suggest at minimum washing the clothes you wore to the friends house in hot water followed by 20/30 minutes in the dryer. I’d also suggest inspecting anything you used to carry clothes from home to home. Be sure to inspect items such as sneakers as well.
Again the risk is very low that you carried bed bugs home, but the marks on your back could indicate that you were exposed. The resource below has pictures where you can see what bed bugs look like when hiding on a backpack and what the insects themselves look like.
There is a good chance that you may have just ben bitten but didn’t bring them back with you. If you can wash your everything you had with you over there, what kills bed bugs is HEAT. If you can wash everything in hot water great. If not then make sure you put everything in the Dryer. If the bag you had can’t be washed in a machine or with water at least put it in your dryer for 5 minutes. That will kill any bed bugs if you brought them home with you.
Also make sure you that you vacuum up around your place and change the bag. If in a few weeks you have bites then you probably have them. But everything I told you will help with the prevention of having them in your home.