Bedbugs!

And somehow even with all the traveling we do and having a wife who works in a hotel, I'm guessing I'll dodge the bedbug bullet too.

I'm like the freakin' Matrix.

Lord Gonchar said:
I wish I had H1N1. Just for the credibility. :)

My dad had it, then my brother got it, and about 3 months later, I came down with it.

I stayed in bed for a few days, felt like I couldn't get up and that I'd been hit by a train/bus/747. When it was all said and done, I never felt like it could have killed me. I will say that is sucked, hardcore, but so does having the regular flu.

P.S. My brother also had West Nile Virus during the year it was huge/scary.

Bedbugs are the popular thing to freak out about now? I thought it was the egg recall.

I am curious to see what will be next. We are all DOOMED! :)

-Tina

I had bedbugs about a month ago. They say they are really hard to get rid of, but I was fortunate enough to catch them early. The exterminator said we had the easiest case of bedbugs she seen. She also mentioned that they've been spraying movie theaters and buses. I got a new job as a bus driver this spring, when she said that, I assumed that's where I got them.

A lot of vaccines are grown in egg cultures. Now what are we to do? Time to queue up R.E.M.'s "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"

There is new technology working its way through the pipeline that, once it hits, will instantly antiquate the current egg culture system. Shouldn't be more than a few years and it will be here.

We'll all be dead by then, man! We're all doomed! (Channeling William Shatner's overacting).

Richie Reflux said:
I truly started this as a serious thread.

It's really interesting that people are writing this off as media hype and making jokes. It's a very serious issue and a reality not only for travelers but a problem for residents in most North American cities. We had them show up in our downtown Toronto condo, and the majority of my friends living downtown have had to deal with them to various degrees over the last couple of years. We got lucky and caught it early and they have not shown up again. Dealing with bedbugs is a horrible experience.

I was bitten up in a Hilton hotel just this past June. This is a 4 star property that I've stayed at probably a dozen times before and I got about 30 bites overnight. The good news is that the hotel took this very seriously and comped my stay among other things. There's horror stories on TripAdvisor of hotels that just blow people off, but the Hilton was on the ball with all of it. Because of my experience at home I'm more than paranoid about it and always check my rooms up and down. I was lulled into the comfort of a familiar hotel and blew off the check and of course that's when they showed up. In addition to the bites I had to treat my luggage and clothes when I got home to make sure I didn't bring them with me.

Everyone reacts differently to the bites and some don't react at all. I happen to get a horrible reaction to them so it's extra disturbing. They start out like super itchy mosquito bites on the first day. Then they they become weepy and sometimes bloody and swell up. Eventually the area swells up and becomes painful almost like the aftermath of a bee sting. The other horrible part is that the bites take several weeks to heal up, unlike a mosquito bute that will usually go away in about a week..these stick around for usually around a month.

There's a good website called bedbugger.com that has checklists for how to inspect and deal with them. Richie you can get good instructions about how to inspect your room for them there too. Most importantly keep your luggage off the ground and use the luggage rack at all times.

The bedbug solution is easy and cheap. Camp in your own tent, trailer or RV!

Richie Reflex said: I truly started this as a serious thread.

Cropsey said: It's really interesting that people are writing this off as media hype and making jokes.

I have no doubt bed bugs are a serious thing. I know they are appearing again after a long time of being absent. And I believe they are a pain in the ass to deal with once encountered.

But the power of word of mouth either through news or story sharing is that things can be blown up to many times more than their actual size. It happens all the time and that's what people are calling out.

They are real. I don't think anyone here would dispute that. But treating them like something you need to be living in fear over or canceling life plans over is extreme and dramatic.

Furthermore, in the original post the question was asked, "Is this "epidemic" over-hyped? Any thought about this?"

People are answering those questions. There's no reason to question why some are not taking the topic seriously.

Based on my two experiences and the fact that about half of the friends I have here have had issues with bedbugs, I'd consider it an epidemic in Toronto. However it's case by case, city by city and is apparently spreading. The media is calling it an epidemic here and the province has responded recently by assigning a group to deal with this. The problem is that bedbugs don't carry disease so it's not a huge public health risk. But I'll tell you the psychological issues associated with them are brutal. As your wounds heal up it feels like bugs are crawling on your skin. Also at night bite victims are prone to throwing the sheets off thinking they're being bitten, The scary part is these bugs inject an anesthetic first then take the blood after so you don't feel the bite untill it's done and itching.

So yeah it's an epidemic where I live. And no it's not funny at all so don't scold me for calling people out on that.

It's not funny to you because it's happening to you.

Much in the same way that I can laugh at the guy on tv getting hit in the balls with a baseball because they're not my balls being hit.

And for the record, I don't think anyone said it was hilarious, just over sensationalized.

Cropsey said: And no it's not funny at all so don't scold me for calling people out on that.

Are you serious? Don't you scold me for scolding you for scolding others! :)

Is it really that hard for you to understand why people who have had no experience with something , either directly or indirectly, could make light of it?

My main issue was to point out that this thread was created with an invitation to share thoughts on the topic and weigh in on whether people thought the idea of this as an epidemic was over-hyped. Then when people offered their thoughts (albeit packaged in humor) it was rejected as not validating the concern raised.

You make your fair share of jokes around here. One recently was in the thread about the woman claiming to be groped by Donald Duck. What makes that topic worthy of humor and not this one? Perhaps only that this happened to you, as kpjb pointed out.

I turn on the Weather Channel at 7:00 this morning, and what are they talking about? Bedbugs!

Nothing worse than weather-induced bedbugs.

Carrie M. said:
You make your fair share of jokes around here. One recently was in the thread about the woman claiming to be groped by Donald Duck. What makes that topic worthy of humor and not this one? Perhaps only that this happened to you, as kpjb pointed out.

A woman pushing a frivilous lawsuit to cash in on Disney two years later about being violated by Donald Duck is not the same thing as bugs that feed on you while you sleep. They leave painful, itchy welts and are considered an epidemic that's effecting millions of people.

It's amazing how web board pissing matches trump someone's personal experience on here. Yes it happened to me and it's a horrible experience. Not only physically but psychologically it's an invasion and a violation. It takes weeks to get a good night's sleep after dealing with bedbugs. It's not like dealing with some ants in the pantry. I've seen a male friend brought to tears in front of me after several nights without sleep and being covered head to toe in bites after a couple months of trying to get rid of an infestation. I can see how someone who's never dealt with this could think it's a big media joke. However as someone who's experienced it first hand it's horrible and informing you that it's not something to blow off or make a joke of. Yes, I'm very serious.

sws said:
During the height of the second wave last fall, ~15% of all of the patient visits to my ER were because of influenza-like illness. I prescribed more Tamiflu during that 6 week period than I have in the rest of my medical career combined. The last case of H1N1 I've seen was probably last November.

In short, we dodged a bullet.

All this suggests is that people were hyper-sensitive toward noticing flu-like symptoms at the time, and were rushing to the ER at the first sign of illness. I'd bet many of those people to whom you prescribed Tamiflu simply had a "normal" flu (if even that), and would have been fine without the vaccine.

Really, Cropsey? Really?

Ironically I noticed three new bedbug bites on my elbow today. My other half has one on the wrist and we suspect we may have gotten them at a movie theatre on Sunday. Hope they didn't come home with us.

My roommate picked them up whilst on a trip to Dollywood one year - we never did get the apartment sorted after that and pretty much moved and bought all new stuff furniture wise.