Bed Bugs on the Camino de Santiago – Camino de Santiago Forum

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This article was part of a email that I asked if I could put on the forum here. It is a very balanced article on bed bugs and how we can all help.

I am in Santiago right now, having just completed the Camino Frances from Pamplona. I stayed in a combination of albergues and hostels, pensiones, hotels. There has been, over this past month, constant talk among pilgrims about bedbug encounters. People have been hospitalized with allergic reactions, need for steroids, etc. Some have called it quits and gone home. Every group of pilgrims I met has either been bitten or knows someone who has been bitten. For the victims, and I am included among their numbers, the situation can be demoralizing.

Bedbugs ARE a part of being a pilgrim on the camino. No matter what one does, what preventatives one uses, etc. etc., bedbugs are here and encountering bedbugs is completely random---doesn?t matter what type of accommodation.

Yes, the albergues seem to have more than their fair share, but more people are staying in albergues and in closer quarters.

They are difficult to eradicate. There are definitely more bedbug encounters this year than I heard about when I walked in 2007.

Travelers need to be aware of the habits of bedbugs and what they need to do when they have been in contact.

All too many times, I heard pilgrims say things like---I was on the trail and felt something tickle me, scratched it off and it was a bedbug.

Folks, bedbugs are hitchhikers. They travel in backpacks, clothing, shoes, sleeping bags, etc. They like to hide in mattresses, between wooden floorboards, in wooden headboards. Hotels and albergues do not know to fumigate a room until someone has dropped off a few bedbugs, then the next traveler who sleeps there complains of having been bitten.

If you encounter bedbugs you need to seal everything into a plastic bag then quickly find a place where you can wash all your stuff in a washing machine at high heat and dry it in a dryer at high heat. The heat from the dryer will kill them. Don?t take your boots into the sleeping areas. Before going to bed, check the sheets and mattress---you are looking for tiny black specs and especially blood spots---meaning bedbugs have feasted on the previous occupant.

Please do not hesitate to report bedbug sightings or suspicious looking bite marks to hospitaleros, hotel, hostel, pension personnel, etc. If you don?t tell them, they cannot do anything about it. They only know to fumigate if they have been advised of a problem. I have been told that regular fumigation schedules do not help. The little critters are quite resilient and there is a concern they may develop resistance to the insecticide.

Read the rest here:
Bed Bugs on the Camino de Santiago - Camino de Santiago Forum

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