Ah Paris. The City of Light. Home of romance and roses… and a ‘plague’ of bed bugs that have infested the French capital.
Sightings are apparently on the up – the insects have been spotted in cinemas, trains, hospitals and schools. They were the talk of Paris Fashion Week and now, if media reports are to be believed, they are hopping on the Eurostar and coming to a UK city near you. So how worried should we be?
Is there a bed bug outbreak in the UK?
Bed bugs are in every city, everywhere. It’s hard to know what is happening in Paris because there are no official figures, but in the UK the pest control company Rentokil has reported a 65 per cent increase in bed bug infestations over the last year.
Where people go, bed bugs go, hitching a ride on clothes and luggage, so this upward trend is probably due to people travelling more after Covid. And while some UK pest controllers are currently reporting more callouts, this may simply be because the media fuss has made people more vigilant.
Are bed bugs spreading on the London Underground?
A handful of videos posted on social media claim to show bed bugs on the London Underground. One shows an insect on a passenger’s trouser leg, another shows a bug on the roof of a carriage.
Sadiq Khan, mayor of London, said the bed bug issue was “a real source of concern” and reassured Londoners that their tube trains are regularly cleaned.
However, there’s no concrete evidence that these are bed bugs. The videos are too grainy for a formal ID, and the insects’ behaviour is odd. Bed bugs favour nooks and crannies so are rarely spotted out in the open.
What are bed bugs?
Bed bugs are tiny, nocturnal insects that feed mainly on human blood. In the UK and Europe, bed bug bites are caused by Cimex lectularius, aka the common bed bug, which uses its needle-like mouth parts to pierce the skin.
As if that wasn’t grim enough, males impregnate females by stabbing them in the abdomen with their dagger-shaped penises. During her life, a single female can lay hundreds of eggs, which hatch and become sexually mature within weeks.
“Left untreated, the population can explode,” says medical entomologist Prof James Logan from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
How do I know if I’ve been bitten by a bed bug?
It’s not always obvious. Bed bugs inject an anaesthetic when they bite, so you don’t feel it happen. It also happens at night, so you’re asleep.
They tend to go for uncovered body parts, such as the face, neck and arms. Some people don’t react at all but for those who are allergic, the bite can trigger localised patches of itchiness and swelling. On white skin, the bites usually look red. On black or brown skin, they tend to look purple and are more difficult to see.
How do you treat bed bug bites?
Bed bug bites are annoying, but they normally disappear on their own within a week or so. In the meantime, it’s a good idea to keep the affected area clean and use a cool, damp cloth to calm any irritation.
Try not to scratch the bite to avoid risk of infection. Antihistamines and topical steroid creams can also be used but check with your pharmacist first.
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Are bed bugs a threat to human health?
Bed bugs are not known to transmit any infectious diseases to humans, but bites and infestations can cause serious mental anguish. Just thinking about bed bugs can make people itch, and the worry of being bitten can cause sleeplessness and anxiety.
Some people may develop a psychological disorder called delusional parasitosis, where they believe their home is infested when it’s not. This is rare, but it can be distressing and difficult to treat.
Why won’t bed bugs just die already?
From the 1940s onwards, after DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) and other synthetic insecticides were introduced, bed bugs did die.
Over time, however, they have been evolving resistance to these chemicals, and now many of today’s bed bug populations are largely unaffected by them. Climate change isn’t helping either, as insects tend to live for longer and breed more successfully when the weather is warmer.
How do I know if there are bed bugs in my home or hotel?
You’re looking for a small, apple seed-sized insect, with a flattened, rusty-coloured body, hiding in an inaccessible place.
Bed bugs can be found under mattresses, in bedframes, behind skirting boards, under rugs, behind electrical sockets, in the back of TV screens… just about anywhere. If you can’t see them directly, other telltale signs include spots of blood on the bedding and tiny brown smears of bed bug poo.
How should I deal with an infestation?
“If you spot a possible bed bug, take a photo, and send it to a professional pest controller,” advises Logan. “They can identify it, and then deal with the problem. You can’t beat it yourself.”
What you can do, however, is be pre-emptively aware. Check second-hand furniture before you bring it into the house. If you’ve been travelling, check your luggage and clothes. If you’re worried, put your clothes through a hot wash (60oC), before tumbling them on a hot setting for at least 30 minutes. Alternatively, bag up your things and put them in the freezer for a few days.
How worried should we be?
The rise in media reports is more likely to reflect the public’s appetite for gruesome stories than it is an actual epidemic.
“There’s no need to panic,” says Logan. “However, it does give us an insight into the bigger picture; that bed bugs are an increasing problem. We live in a bug’s world. They were here long before us, and they’ll be here long after we’ve gone. We’re never going to get rid of bed bugs, and nor should we. We just need to learn to live smarter in their world.”
About our expert
Prof James Logan is a professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and is a former head of the Department of Disease Control. Logan is a leading expert in insect repellents, and his research has been published in journals Global Health Action, BMC Microbiology and the Journal of Medical Entomology.