SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake Valley is fighting an invasion of creepy, unwanted houseguests that never want to leave. No, not freeloading relatives, but parasitical, blood-sucking insects that not only want to share your bed, but also want to travel with you.
According to the Salt Lake Valley Health Department, reports of bed bugs have seen a dramatic increase recently.
"I started at the health department 15 years ago, and I'd never heard of them," said Lora Lee, an environmental health scientist with the department. "We maybe got one call every four months, if that. Now, we get at least one call a day."
She attributed the hike in bed bug activity to the increase in worldwide traveling and the lack of availability of an effective pesticide.
"They don't jump, (and) they don't fly, so they have to be transported in luggage, on purses or cell phone cases," she said. They go to areas of exposed skin on the body and feed on blood, she said.
Lee said the best way to limit exposure to the apple seed-sized critters is to keep one's home "clean and de-cluttered."
"When you do have them, pull your bed and dresser out from the wall and move your dressers away from the bed," she said. Moving your furniture farther apart makes it easier to clean and makes it harder for the bed bugs to get to you.
Thoroughly vacuum every day with the hose of the vacuum along the floors and baseboards, as well as under and on top of the mattress, Lee advised. Also, keep the sheets and low-hanging bed clothes from touching the floor, making it harder for the insects to get access the bed.
Another suggestion would be to use an allergy or dust-mite cover over mattress and box springs, making the bugs easier to see and clean away. Putting bed sheets in the dryer on a high setting for about 20 minutes will also kill the pests, she said.
From a strictly personal-health perspective, bed bugs are virtually harmless, Lee said.
"They'll give you 'the creeps,' but they are not like lice," Lee said. "They do not spread disease."
She noted that bed bugs can survive nine months to a year without feeding, making them pretty tough to get rid of. Lee also said that while many might believe bed bugs are more prevalent in seedy motels or less affluent neighborhoods, nothing could be farther from the truth.
"Bed bugs don't care if you are rich or poor, they just want your blood," she said. The pests can be found in the swankiest hotels or a youth hostel.
For more information on bed bugs, visit www.slvhealth.org/programs/sanitationSafety/faqs/bedBugs.html.
e-mail: jlee@desnews.com