Bedbugs!

djDaemon said:
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.

The CDC's case definition for influenza-like illness was vague - basically fever and either cough or sore throat - which could include influenza, strep pharyngitis, bacterial pneumonia, or any of 20 other conditions. So yes, there were many conditions that could present similarly and needed to be excluded before labelling someone as having H1N1. The second wave of H1N1 had subsided before seasonal influenza began to appear last winter, so there wasn't much of an overlap. It was a mild seasonal influenza season last winter, at least in MN. Most people with influenza will fully recover without any treatment, however it is always listed in the top 10 causes of death in the US, so it needs to be taken seriously. As Touchdown noted above, H1N1 was causing severe illness in otherwise young, healthy people - not just at the extremes of age or patients with other underlying medical complications.

I for one last year was not a victim of these critters...unitl this year. THEY ARE THERE! Trust me. if you never experienced the wrath of bed bugs..good for you, but still be on the alert! For those that have experienced, STERI-FAB is a good killer and preventive measure for them. Want something cheaper, use 80% or higher Rubbing Alcohol. Always have a spray bottle filled and ready. If you travel, take the bottle with you and spray, spray spray. These items DO WORK!

Letterman - Top 10 Signs NYC Has A Bedbug Problem

Here's a ditty from the Detroit news - way to go Detroit!

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20100824/METRO01/8240406/Report-...ted-cities

Of course this might be more sensationalist propaganda from Terminix to boost sales....

Help/information from our friends at Travel Channel (courtesy of Tony Bourdain):

http://www.travelchannel.com/Places_Trips/Travel_Ideas/Travel_Tips/Invasion+of+the+Bedbugs

Some people are taking this very seriously

Very USEFUL tool on this site - www.bedbugregistry.com - look up your neighborhood or favorite hotel before you book.

This doesn't mean that they are still there, but it should be a warning to use precautions when staying there....

Jerry finally contributed something worth reading!

Just kidding. Most of my posts just make fun of people. ;)

Seriously though, I wonder why I didn't think of creating a website like that? It will come in very handy the next time I go on a trip, and hopefully ease my paranoia.

That paranoia, by the way, didn't exist before this topic was started. Thanks a lot. :)

When I took my daughter to KI for a couple nights over Labor Day weekend, we took extreme, and probably paranoid, precautions to make sure we didn't bring any back home with us:

Instead of rigid-sided suitcases, we brought duffel bags that could be washed in hot water when we returned. All of our clothes, including both dirty laundry and unused clean clothing, were segregated in trash bags and also washed in hot water. Same thing with pillows and (in her case) stuffed animals. Nothing that wasn't essential to do so was placed on beds during our stay. Snacks, toiletries, and so forth, were kept in sealable bags, and then were transferred to pristine bags before we left the hotel.

It was kind of insane, frankly. I didn't see any sign of bedbugs the whole time we were there. But it did give me peace of mind, and for that all of it was worth it.

Disney actually has a response plan in place for bedbugs. They have a beagle that actually is trained to hunt them down and they are running that little guy all over property looking for the critters.

Once found, the "treatment" is to take all guest belongings to a backstage laundry facility. But, washing them does not kill them. What they do is lock all of the belongings in a room and then super heat that room. That is what kills bedbugs.

They do the same to the guestroom. They will isolate the room, bring in a big heater, and heat the room and all of its contents, thus killing the bugs. It is very expensive but you can imagine Disney's fear that people start thinking there is a bedbug problem in its thousands of rooms.

From the reports I just read on Disney - Port Orleans Riverside and Pop century have the most complaints...(recently too) How long has that beagle been working? Any reports on shutting down the hotels for a bombing rather than this heat method?

I would think a bug bomb would be a last resort given the amount of press that would receive. Isolating a room and blasting it with heat is a bit more discrete.

Is this really becoming a major issue, or has it been an 'issue' for decades and the news media is deciding to focus on it now?

I remember about nine years ago hearing news story after news story about shark attacks along the East coast. I researched it a bit and found that sharks weren't really attacking people any more than any other year, but somehow that became one of the big things to which the news media directed its attention (and of course got ours).

Interesting that after September 11th of that year, I stopped seeing news stories about shark attacks.

You may be right Vater - the News media is there to provide revenue to their respective organization by enticing readers/viewers then allowing for the sale of advertising. I usually listen to the BBC, but then again - that has its respective issues as well.

I do have to say the issue is real - and once acquired, the problem is not something easily dispensed with. Whether it's more real today than yesterday isn't the point I care about.

Jerry said:
Whether it's more real today than yesterday isn't the point I care about.

And ironically, it's the most important point.

I think using prevention and preventing the spread is the most important point IMHO.

Sure, but if the threat isn't and more real than yesterday then the process of prevention hasn't changed either.

The point in this context is the implication that the threat is somehow greater than it was.

Yes, i see your point... Perhaps making the public more aware is the current best way to improve prevention? I don't see bottles of DDT becoming available any time soon.

At any rate - sleep tight everyone!

Well actually, it is greater than it was. I suppose there's a normal ebb and flow with various species of insects, based on weather and environment. I suppose conditions are right for the little bastards to be out in force.

In some specific places, I suspect it may be. But overall, I don't believe your odds are any worse than they were.

Typical out of sight, out of mind stuff. Right now it's in our sights.

I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. :)