Articles

Family wages bedbug battle

BY JEANETTE STEWART
THE STARPHOENIX
FEBRUARY 5, 2010

Dave Balderstone thinks people should be aware of how common bedbugs are after finding them in his Saskatoon home

Photograph by: Gord Waldner, The StarPhoenix,

Dave Balderstone points to a dozen or so plastic containers on the deck of his home, filled with household items.

"Everything we didn't need in the house went out there," said Balderstone.

Nearby is a wooden headboard, still full of the carcasses of the bedbugs that infested it for several months.

Though Balderstone hadn't heard of anyone with bedbugs before an infestation happened in his east-side bungalow, he started to hear stories after his experience. He wants other people to know how common the problem can be.

"Nobody's talking about it publicly at all. When the guy from Orkin (Pest Control) said it was the majority of his business, I thought, let's tell people," Balderstone said. "You know that they're out there, but you never think they're going to show up in your house."

The Balderstone family spent the end of their Christmas vacation packing boxes and clearing space around the floorboards of their house, on the hunt for the parasite.

Daughter Katlynn, 19, suffered itchy bites on her arms and legs for months. First they thought it was mosquitos, but the bites persisted long after summer was over. Two separate visits to the doctor and treatment for scabies didn't get rid of the problem.

Finally, around New Year's Day, Katlynn found one of the bugs in her room.

"(We) didn't know much about them at the time, so everybody sort of freaked out," said her father. The family hauled the box spring and mattress outside into the -30 C weather and began vacuuming.

When exterminators arrived a few days later, they confirmed it was bedbugs.

"A lot of it was relief, because I finally knew what was going on and we could do something to stop it," Katlynn said.

The family is not alone in their problem.

"Bedbugs have been getting progressively worse over the last five or six years," said Mike Gage, a manager with Orkin in Saskatoon.

When he first started with the company, calls were rare. Now they get at least six bedbug calls per day and thousands of bedbug calls across the province each year.

Gage believes increased travel and second-hand furniture likely contribute to the number of infestations.

The Balderstone family travelled to Ontario in the summer, staying in hotels on the way back. They believe it's likely the bug crawled into a bag then.

With the cost of replacing the bed, the treatment and cleaning, Balderstone estimates the family spent more than $2,000 fixing the problem.

He's since been e-mailing people who list used furniture online, warning them to be careful when purchasing second-hand beds and mattresses.

Bedbug infestations can, and do, happen to anyone, regardless of location and demographics.

"It's not a matter of social status or tidiness," said Katlynn. "They're just there."

An infestation can range from a few bugs in a bed to piles of carcasses that look like sawdust. Sometimes there are no signs.

"If you're not looking for them, you're not going to notice them. Different people react differently to the bites," Gage said. "You might not know until it becomes very obvious."

Bedbugs are small, reddish brown in colour and about the "size of an apple seed for a full-grown bedbug," said Gage. The bugs are very flat. Carcasses or droppings on the mattress can be an indication of an infestation, and some people get obvious scratches or welts on their body.

Treatment options can include increased vacuuming and the use of pesticides. A special mattress cover can be purchased to prevent bugs escaping or getting into the bed. All clothing and linens in the home must also be washed and dried on high heat.

Balderstone said the family will remain vigilant about the bugs for the next year, as they can go dormant for up to eight months.

According to the Saskatoon Health Region, the bugs pose no real health risk beyond the rash some people get.

"Really, there isn't proven connection between disease transmission and bedbug bites," said Dr. Ross Findlater, deputy medical health officer with the Saskatoon Health Region.

Calls to health inspectors have also increased as the bedbug problem becomes more apparent.

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