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Bed bug research article

J Willhaus

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Time of past OR future Camino
2016, 2022, 2023, 2024, planned 2025

Behavioral Responses of the Bed Bug to Permethrin-Impregnated ActiveGuard™ Fabric

ActiveGuard™ Mattress Liners have been used to control house dust mites, and they also are commercially available as an integrated pest management tool for use against bed bugs (Cimex lectularius). The aim of our study was to evaluate responses ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

I found this older (2013) scientific article today about bed bugs. It is testing a permethrin impregnated product for a few different things, like killing the bugs and also repelling them and keeping them from feeding.

All bed bugs are not alike it seems. While the fabric with the permethrin stopped some bugs, it didn't other populations. Some were more resistant than others and fed anyway which is what I had always understood from my hospitalera training can happen.

Super interesting about the various populations of bugs tested and how they were farmed in the lab. Apparently "wild bugs" were harder to raise because they either didn't like the lab food or didn't know how to access it or something.

Anyway, I will continue not to use permethrin on my bedding and just expose bed bugs to extreme heat if exposed. I don't want to contribute to a population of resistant bugs. I'll also continue to be vigilant as a hospitalera to try to keep them out of the dorms.
 
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There has been discussion about this specific study and another on the same theme since at least Feb 2023. I posted about it here last year, and again earlier this year here and here.

I note with some concern that your interpretation of the results seems negative. For example, there were five bed bug populations tested. Only one was unaffected, and another was, perhaps, only marginally affected. The three other populations were affected. As the study stated
I think your implied effectiveness standard that the bed bugs be 'stopped' is both vague and unrealistic. It has been clear from previous discussions on this that there is no magic bullet here that creates an impermeable protection system, at least in ordinary use of both insecticides and insect repellents.

My own view is that this article again demonstrates that permethrin treated equipment, particularly sleeping gear, offers greater protection from being bitten than the alternative of not treating anything. I would rather have that increased protection.
 
So permethrin may help pilgrims somewhat better follow the old night-time adage:

"Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite."
 
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The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
Just be careful with the application if you are not buying something already commercially treated. Follow the directions carefully. Once dry, the chemical it isn't harmful to people, but getting the solution on your skin or inhaling it while applying could be harmful (it is a hormone disrupting chemical). Don't apply it indoors and keep it away from pets (especially cats). Treat the clothing while you are not wearing it. (It isn't like spraying some mosquito repellant on your arms or legs.) It will wash out of your clothing so check the label to see how many washes to maintain effectiveness.
 
Some good advice here for those thinking of using one of the spray packs. I use a soak in preparation, which I do inside and then dry the treated garments, etc outside. Otherwise, the other precautions are the same.

Soak in treatments will last longer than sprays when laundered, but I don't have typical values for that. I know that when I was looking into this, that things like treated sleeping equipment, packs, etc would remain effective for even a longer camino, irrespective of whether a spray or soak in treatment was applied,
 
In the military spray treatments were used with a "garden sprayer " in my unit. Several uniforms could be treated at one time. Mostly this was for tick and mosquito protection which carried disease and not for bedbugs.
 
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I do not use Permethrin on my clothing in general on most Caminos. I use the spray outdoors only; on my mattress sheet, the outside of my sleeping bag, and my backpack both inside and out. I do not spray my pillowcase. I have been pleasantly surprised that it has absolutely no odor when dry.
 
Camino Chrissy said:
I do not use Permethrin on my clothing in general on mos Caminos.
Click to expand...
I have treated clothing for other travel where mosquitoes or ticks might be an issue. I don't see the point on the Camino, where I want protection against bed bugs. There is little protection against these night time visitors in treated day-time clothing, unless one is going to wear one's day-time clothing to bed every night.

I know that some get concerned about ticks. I wouldn't want to underplay that, but it appears to me to be a relatively low risk on the Camino routes that I have walked, and I don't treat my day-time clothing.
 
Last edited:
I'm spraying my pack and the outside of my sleeping bag today with Sawyer's Permethrin.
I use it every year and so far (knock on wood) I've been lucky except for my very first Camino when I did not spray. That year I was bitten once, on the neck. I thought it was a spider bite and didn't realize it was a bedbug until much later, when people were eaten alive in Hornillos. I have MCS and i'm super sensitive to fragrances and complex chemicals. Sawyers leaves no odor at all that I can determine, once dry, where Febreze and Fabuloso will put me down with a migraine and joint aches for days!

I'll continue to use it. In fact, I'm spraying everything down today as i leave on Tuesday for Madrid. Fingers crossed it will do its job.
 
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