The reported outbreak of bedbugs in Paris is hardly surprising. Reports of sightings on the London Underground – so far unsubstantiated, but quickly addressed by Sadiq Khan – are not surprising either. Bedbugs are everywhere. Bedbugs can be found in any city around the world, in any location, from youth hostels to five-star hotels. There are not yet clear numbers on the purported “explosion” of bedbugs in Paris, but in the UK, pest control company Rentokil reported a 65% increase in bedbug infestations in the UK from 2022 to 2023.
As we return to pre-pandemic levels of travel, bedbugs are on the move, and this is likely to cause more sightings. They tend to travel in people’s suitcases and end up in our bedrooms – they are incredibly good hitchhikers. The rise in popularity of secondhand furniture is another way for bedbugs to enter our homes.
Another factor that may be behind the increase in bedbug sightings is resistance to insecticides. During the 20th century, strong insecticides like DDT, that were highly effective against bedbugs, came into use, and famously infested cities such as New York and London were able to get the problem under control. But over time the insects evolved resistance, changing the parts of their bodies the insecticides were disrupting. Many of today’s bedbug populations are mostly unbothered by commonly used insecticides.
Climate change is also likely to be a contributing factor, as most insects breed better in warmer temperatures; so if there are more hotter months in the year, then there’s more chance of insects breeding in greater numbers.
I can understand the current public anxiety. But we should try to temper our instinctive disgust. We react this way for several reasons: they invade our personal space, and it can be very unsettling knowing you are being bitten while asleep, creating a sense of vulnerability. The resilience of bedbugs also makes eradication difficult, and it can be a drawn-out process, causing further frustration and distress. But bedbugs don’t discriminate; they aren’t associated with unclean spaces. Thinking this way can create an unfair societal stigma on the victim.
What can people do to protect themselves against infestations? When travelling and staying in hotels, keep your suitcase off the bed and the floor, and keep it zipped closed to stop any unwanted pests getting into your luggage and hitchhiking home with you.
Don’t leave your clothes on the floor – and check them, particularly along the seams, to ensure nothing is hiding there. Bedbugs are reddish-brown, and a few millimetres in length. If you do spot a bedbug in your room, ask to move.
If you are at home and suspect you have a bedbug infestation, act quickly by calling out a pest controller to get it dealt with as soon as possible. Although their bites won’t transmit diseases to humans, they are a nuisance and cause stress and mental health problems for victims.
At Arctech Innovation, a spin-out company from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, new solutions are being developed to tackle bedbugs, including a trap utilising bedbug pheromone. BugScents is a bedbug lure that can trap bedbugs at an early stage of the infestation, resulting in more effective treatment.
One thing you learn through studying these creatures is that we live in a bug’s world: we’ll never get rid of them all. There is much you can do to avoid bringing them home with you, but we have no choice but to live – occasionally – alongside them.
