Permethrin for bedbugs
 

Last year I rented an apartment for three days in Prague and was bitten pretty badly by what I believe were bedbugs. I didn't see any, and originally thought it was just mosquito bites, but the bite pattern looked more like bedbugs. Oddly enough, they hurt and swelled much more three or four days after I was bitten than they did at the time. Fortunately, none of the bugs hitched a ride in our suitcases, which is a miracle. I don't want to experience this again!

Some time back i read advice for visiting a tropical country, and one suggestion was to bring permethrin and spray all of the baseboards are areas around the bed. It also said to spray the sheets lightly. I hate the thought of sleeping on top of pesticide. My dad and uncles used to rub themselves lightly with DDT powder on the farm without ill effect. I'm sure permethrin is safer than that!

Have any of your done anything like this? I would think just spraying the baseboards and edge of the mattress and box springs would be helpful, without actually spraying the bedsheets. Anyway, would love to hear any comments.

I've used permethrin many times but never in this way. Permethrin in its liquid form should never be applied directly to skin or inhaled. If you treat the bed with permethrin, then allow several hours for the solution to evaporate, leaving the pesticide embedded within the fibres of the sheets/mattress, that is probably safe.

However, the best solution is simply don't stay anywhere that has signs of bedbugs! Permethrin is for unavoidable exposure to disease carrying insects (think malaria), there's no need to use it for bedbugs.

How about using a pyrethrin? It is derived from chrysanthemums and not a synthetic neurotoxin like DDT or Permethrin (apparently known facts about the latter's development in the pre-WWII period gave the Germans under Hitler the impression that the U.S. was developing chemical weapons).

I have heard of pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago using permethrin on bags and sheets they sleep in. I haven't done the Camino yet, but I have also heard using a silk liner will have a similar effect. YMMV, I simply don't know. I've never stayed anywhere with bed bugs. Fleas yes, but no bed bugs.

Chuck

The place where i believe I was bitten by bedbugs was nice and clean, and there was no sign of them. They apparently like to hide behind headboards, and I didn't look.