Planning A Vacation In Hawaii? Better Think Twice, It's Saturated With Bedbugs!

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.

On 22 Jun 2006 00:29:19 GMT, Roland wrote:


Sleeping tight could get you a bite at hotel
Ron Mizutani
Bed bugs.

This idiot has body lice and thinks that hawaii is to blame.