Bed bug confusion

[Lulumom]

Hi all,

I did search through my guidebooks and old posts on the subject of bed bugs but I am still feeling confused about the reality of how best to deal with them, both for prevention and treatment.

Firstly, is it necessary/helpful to treat backpacks and/or sleeping bags with a preventative or bug deterring product? If so, what product do people recommend? We are bringing sleeping bags and I have a small silk pillowcase.

Secondly, if one still ends up with bed bug bites, what (if anything) should be brought along for treatment?

We leave in two weeks and our packs are pretty close to the max I want to carry so it's not a question of being willing to bring several options to just try out; I feel I need a definitive answer and this forum was incredibly helpful in guiding me to that point with my shoes, so hoping for some advice. Thank you!!!

Kim

 

[Anniesantiago]

There are so many threads on this topic, it's overwhelming.
And there are so many opinions, it's also overwhelming.

I have walked almost every year since 2006.
I have seen a big increase in bedbugs.

Here is my advice - spray the OUTSIDE Of your pack and your shoes and your sleeping bag with permethrin (Sawyers is a good brand. Get it at REI or online Amazon).

Then know what to look for.

Here is a blog I did on the topic.
http://caminosantiago2.blogspot.com/2011/06/dont-let-bedbugs-bite.html

 

[KinkyOne]

Hi all,

I did search through my guidebooks and old posts on the subject of bed bugs but I am still feeling confused about the reality of how best to deal with them, both for prevention and treatment.

Firstly, is it necessary/helpful to treat backpacks and/or sleeping bags with a preventative or bug deterring product? If so, what product do people recommend? We are bringing sleeping bags and I have a small silk pillowcase.

Secondly, if one still ends up with bed bug bites, what (if anything) should be brought along for treatment?

We leave in two weeks and our packs are pretty close to the max I want to carry so it's not a question of being willing to bring several options to just try out; I feel I need a definitive answer and this forum was incredibly helpful in guiding me to that point with my shoes, so hoping for some advice. Thank you!!!

Kim

Hi, Kim,

Annie already gave you advice about spraying.
For the rest of your inquiries you don't have to bring anything with you. All you might need is available either in Spanish farmacias or ferreterias (hardware stores).

Buen Camino!

 

[MikeJS]

I have walked 5 of the longer caminos and only ever seen bedbugs once on the Frances. I always check the bed before I decide to stay - and thatinc on other trips when I am in 5 star hotels!

 

[naplesdon]

Never bitten in 8 years and I have slept in every class of accommodations. Given your departure date in 2 weeks, assuming it is around 1 April, you should be ahead of the curve of the spread of bedbugs and find that most "good" albergues have recently sanitized their sleeping material after a good freeze during the winter.

 

[Saint Mike II]

Hola @Lulumom ;
I support the idea of prevention worth more than cure. So yes spray your packs; sleeping bag; boots/shoes if you wish; take a silk (or majority silk) sleeping bag liner (spray this as well). I also agree about taking precautions in the albergues - have a good look at the mattresses; around the floors/wall joins. If the hospitalero says they have mattress covers - take one (even if there is a fee). The disposable ones (use once and then discard) are probably better.
IF the worst happens and you end up with the critters (bites on lower legs and arms are a good/bad sign) the following are recommend:
1 tell the hospitalero (where you slept if possible) and definitely at your stop the next night;
2. hot wash and very hot dry everything that can be washed & dried;
3. buy the strongest surface insect spray you can find (Spain does allow the strong ones that much of Europe does not allow) and respray your packs (inside and out), then leave in the sun if you can. My travelling companion picked up the little buggers between Leon & Astorga. We told the hospitaleros at the large albergue and they could not have been more helpful. One - they gave us our own room (two bunks); Two - they had washers with hot water and driers going up to 60 degrees C. We washed EVERYTHING (us; our clothes; even shoes). It did work as there were no repeats. Other advice/treatment - stick any potentially infected clothes/sleeping bag/liner in the freezer for a couple of weeks (or two/three days at least) and then (when thawed) rewash and hot dry. Buen Camino

 

[RJM]

You are overly concerned with something that requires no concern, and if by some chance you do get bitten by a bedbug? Just take it as it comes. As far as I know, there have been no reports of pilgrim fatalities from bedbug bites. Now crossing some of the highways on the Camino, or being in proximity of reckless, speeding bicycle pilgrims? Now that's dangerous.
Seven Caminos and not one bedbug bite on me, or contact with any fellow pilgrim that had been exposed to them. I have never seen one on the Camino or seen signs of their presence.
As far as soaking down your sleeping bag/liner, your backpack and your clothes with liquid poison, which has been linked to causing cancer and then having bodily contact with that now toxic cloth (it kills insects and enough of it would kill a human)? Good luck

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Bed bugs are rarely dangerous, but they can be a major nuisance. If you take them home, you, and everyone around you, will regret it!!

The recommended poisons are safe for humans (and I get a VA disability check for exposure to Agent Orange, so I am not blind to the dangers of chemicals). They may protect you from bites, and they may protect your home from an infestation. People don’t see a lot of things that are out there, so the fact that they have not seen bed bugs does not mean there are no bed bugs. Ask any hospitalero and you will find that the fear of bed bugs is well founded and even better documented.

 

[Kanga]

Permethrin has been classified as safe for use on 2 month old babies (scabies cream).
Anything that is used not in accordance with the recommendations or in ridiculously high dosages may be toxic.
I use permethrin in accordance with the directions and on a risk minimisation basis.

 

[Anamiri]

As someone who actually got bitten, when staying at a very nice apartment in Finisterre after I have finished the Camino.
As I take antihistamines every day, the bites were not as bad as some people experience. I took hydrocortisone cream (my doctor prescribed it as a precaution) to deal with the itch. They took about a week to go away, I felt very conspicuous, they were all over me - very visible on my arms and legs.
It was the one night I didn't use my (treated ) sleeping bag. The sheets looked so nice and white and crisp....
So dont be fooled into thinking you are more at risk on the Camino.
I also treated my pack and the outside of my sleeping bag, and in 2 Caminos did not get bitten on the Camino.
Threw everything in the dryer to kill any stragglers and it worked.

 

[Pei2spain]

In the event you do get bitten, tea tree oil will take care of the itch until the spots go away. You can purchase it in a Spanish pharmacy but it's not cheap. Buen Camino (without bed bugs)!!

 

[Lulumom]

Wow - awesome suggestions. Thank you!!!! I bought the Sawyers Permethrin and will be treating everything before we leave. And I am also bringing some hydrocortisone cream as even if I don't get bedbug bites, there might be other itchy bites to treat. Thanks again! Super helpful.

 

[Anamiri]

Yes my cream has been well used, mainly since the Camino. Some people react badly to bedbugs, I suspect the reason I didn't is because I use antihistamines every day, I am allergic to a lot of different things.
My sister was badly bitten by bedbugs years ago in SE Asia. She reacted terribly, ruined her holiday.
I saw a young guy in Pamploma, who had huge raised red welts all over his arms from bed bugs. I kept well away..

 

[trecile]

I think that some people just react badly to bedbug bites, and others don't. I had a few bites on my first Camino, and if they had been on a part of my body that I couldn't see, I never would have known.
I was surprised, because mosquito bites drive me absolutely crazy!

 

[Deleted member 75649]

I walked fro SJPP to Santiago with no bed bugs. I have been bitten twice before in Southeast Asia and reacted badly nevertheless went off unprepared except for a silk sleeping sheet. I always checked the mattress and mostly stayed in private auberges which often had clean sheets or disposable ones. I did stay at one very old, dodgy auberge however. My blistered foot was killing me and it had ambience with massive dogs and drunken locals I didn't care. Bed bug bites didn't ruin my past holidays

 

[Rikke Visby Wickberg]

I was bitten twice on my second camino francés, and my body reacted very badly. I got so ill I was close to going home. As an example my right hand swelled so much I could hardly bend my fingers, and it felt like a really really bad case of man’s flu!

That is when I found out I was allergic. Luckily I got really good help from the hospitaleros and at the farmacia... Since then I have been really careful.

And even if you do not react or have no problems with the little critters, please take some precautions (not neccessarily toxics), but don’t leave your pack om the bed, etc. All the things we are told. Because you may freight them along with you to the next albergue....

And they can seriously ruin a camino for someone else.

 

[camino-david]

I have been bitten twice (at the same albergue on the Frances and in successive years) in about 3500kms over 5 camino routes. The bites were only around one wrist and caused me minor itching. It's my theory that during the winter they die or hibernate, in the spring they breed, and they bite humans and in late summer and autumn. But I have been bitten in SE Asia and that was hell. I think people are overly concerned about bed bugs. As stated above farmicias know the treatment to supply.

 

[MikeyC]

Permethrin is suitable for outer clothing or layers with which bugs would have contact. It is not usually applied to underwear so I would be reluctant to apply it to a sleeping bag liner.
The American EPA has some useful information at:
https://www.epa.gov/insect-repellents/repellent-treated-clothing

Reaction times to bed bug bites vary and some people may only show they have been bitten up to 10 days after so a little caution may be required as to automatically blaming the last night's lodgings.

 

[martin1ws]

I think I have chemical-sensitive skin, so I do not want to use permethrin.

What I want to try is this:
* inspect bed, corners, ... (link from Anniesantiago's blog mentioned above, with images)
http://caminosantiago2.blogspot.de/2011/06/dont-let-bedbugs-bite.html
* Prefer top bunks
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/com...those-who-were-bitten-only.52070/#post-573965
* backpack: not on the floor, not on the bed, but on a hook (on the wall or fixed with e. g. a carabiner to the bed)
* isolate my sleeping things (sheet, sleeping bag and clothes) in a dry bag
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/bug-bites.49942/#post-574232
* at home: wash everything hot... what cannot be washed: freeze it; I do not want to bring 'them' to my home

 

[Anniesantiago]

For me, getting BITTEN isn't as much a concern as carrying the little buggers home!

One of the pilgrims walking with me this Spring brought bedbugs back home from her trip to Asia.
It took 6 months an around $5000 to finally rid her home of the pests.

Take precautions, and even if you do not get bitten, I suggest not taking your pack into the house until you've totally unpacked and washed everything.

 

[trecile]

Prefer top bunks

Top bunks are no guarantee. The only bedbugs I saw were on the bunk above mine, and crawling on the walls above.

at home: wash everything hot...

Washing in hot water isn't as important as drying on high heat for at least a half hour.

backpack: not on the floor, not on the bed,

You should never at any time put your backpack on your bed. I saw a hospitalero take the backpacks of two pilgrims off their beds, and took them to the albergue office. I think that the Pilgrims got a good talking to when they went to retrieve them.

For me, getting BITTEN isn't as much a concern as carrying the little buggers home!

Same here. Bites are a minor and temporary annoyance, but an infestation can be a nightmare.

 

[Jo Jo]

Permethrin is very good (my wife, who dermotologically reacts to everything does not react to it). We spay the sleeping bag liners (and backpacking quilts, if we are taking those) and the INSIDE of the packs and all pack pockets (bed bugs don't really go for a exterior surface exposed to sun, wind and rain). My wife has gotten bitten only when she sleeps outside of her sprayed liner bag (I always sleep in mine, so never bitten).

In addition to Annie' s excellent point about no bringing them home, I don't want to contribute to the problem by accidentally transporting them to a new alburgue. So, for the same reasons I get a flu shot (to provide herd immunity to others, like my sister, who cannot take the shots), I spray my gear for the good of the community.

Buen Camino,
Jo Jo

 

[martin1ws]

From this post of SYates about de-bed-bugging your camino gear:
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/de-bed-bugging-your-camino-gear.40270/

...
30min of 45C/113F kill 100% of bed bugs and eggs
72hours of -18C/-0.4F kill 100% of bed bugs and eggs
...
I use the highest possible washing/drying temperature for at least 1,5h and leave things for at least a week in the bottom of our chest freezer.
...

Post is available as PDF as well. It contains a lot of additional information, e. g. permethrin is toxic for cats.

 

[Kazles]

Prior to travel, you can soak your bag and liners in either of the 2 Aussie Natural oils diluted - TeaTree or Eucalyptus, followed by spray all over of the same. I used my bath for the soak.
An alternative for the chemically or permethrin sensitive.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Prior to travel, you can soak your bag and liners in either of the 2 Aussie Natural oils diluted - TeaTree or Eucalyptus, followed by spray all over of the same. I used my bath for the soak.
An alternative for the chemically or permethrin sensitive.

An alternative, but with no known effectiveness.