National Bed Bug Prevention Day Date in the current year: June 10, 2024

Bed bugs are parasitic insects from the genus Cimex, primarily Cimex lectularius and Cimex hemipterus. They are micropredatos that infest dwellings and bite people and pets to feed on their blood, typically at night. Bedbug bites cause irritation and sometimes also other health issues such as rashes, severe allergic reactions, and bacterial infections.

Bed bugs were nearly eradicated in developed countries around the mid-20th century, but the number of infestations around the globe has increased over the past decades for a number of reasons, which include increased international travel and immigration, the expansion of the secondhand goods market, the ban of some insecticides, and increased pesticide resistance.

There is a common misconception that bedbug infestations are caused by a lack of hygiene, but in reality they are quite common in densely populated areas regardless of the level of hygiene. Bed bugs can thrive practically anywhere that humans are, including, but not limited to, single-family homes and apartment buildings, college dorms, schools, hospitals, office buildings, retail stores, transport, etc.

The worst thing about bed bugs is that they are hard to eradicate once established, especially in apartment buildings, because they can survive for almost a year without feeding, are unafraid of low temperatures and resistant to most pesticides, and can move from infested to decontaminated areas. Eradication usually includes washing all textiles that can be washed in hot water or freezing them at about −20 °C, thoroughly vacuuming all furniture and carpets, and heating the room to above 50 °C for at least 90 minutes.

National Bed Bug Prevention Day was launched in 2019 by Dodson Pest Control, a Virginia-based company that has been helping people fight bed bugs, cockroaches, fleas, mice, rats, termites, and other pests for more than seven decades. The main goal of the observance is to educate people about the ways to eradicate bed bugs and prevent recurring infestations.

As we’ve already mentioned, anyone can bring bed bugs home from an infested place, especially if they travel often, so infestations can be tricky to prevent. However, there are steps you can take to prevent a bedbug infestation or at least catch it early while it is relatively easy to manage.

Be vigilant when staying at hotels, buying secondhand furniture, and using shared laundry facilities; check your hotel room for any signs of infestation before unpacking, don’t bring secondhand furniture home before inspecting it, etc. In your home, reduce clutter to leave as few hiding places for bed bugs as possible, vacuum frequently, regularly wash and heat-dry your bedding, use special mattress covers (encasements) to eliminate bed bug hiding spots and make bed bugs easier to see, and seal all cracks and crevices where bed bugs tend to hide.