Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite! It’s more than just a cute bedtime saying. Bed bugs are real, they do bite and they have recently been seen on the San Diego State campus.
The extent to which there is any kind of a bed bug problem at SDSU is unclear, but university administrators in a number of departments have said there is no problem that they are currently aware of.
Just as recently as the past few months, though, at least one area on campus had to be treated for the pests.
Dr. Sandy Jorgensen-Funk, director of Counseling and Psychological Services, said there was an isolated case in October in which a bed bug was seen on one of the egg chairs available to students who come into the office for services.
“We immediately shut down the chairs,” Jorgensen-Funk said, “so that they weren’t used by students, as soon as we found this out.”
Jorgensen-Funk added that the chairs were then treated for a second time in November and again last month.
“We didn’t know what they were,” she said. “We just wanted to make sure that we weren’t exposing students to a problem.”
Whether any students were exposed to the problem before the treatments were conducted is not known at this time.
Some reports of possible problems in campus residence halls have been reported to The Daily Aztec in recent months, but the claims, thus far, have been unsubstantiated after discussions with the Office of Housing Administration and Student Health Services.
Benita Mann, manager of custodial and maintenance services for the OHA, said there hasn’t been any known bed bug problem in campus housing for some time.
“Several years ago we had a problem,” Mann said, “but those buildings have since been torn down.”
The Daily Aztec was not given permission by the Residential Education office to speak with any of the residence hall coordinators or resident advisers.
However, according to Paola Carla Alberti de la Rosa, a resident of Villa Alvarado, there is no problem that she has heard of from her roommates.
According to Mann, OHA contracts their pest control services to Knott’s Pest Control, but she did not disclose any contact information for the company. The Daily Aztec was able to verify that SDSU is a client of Knott’s, but the pest control service said any record of recent services would have to be sought through Mann. After numerous phone calls and messages, Mann has not yet responded to such inquiries.
If there is any kind of a problem on campus, according to Student Health Services, it’s not indicated by any increase in students seeking medical care at SHS.
Dr. Gregg Lichtenstein, medical director at SHS, said complaints of bed bug bites isn’t something SHS sees very often.
“It’s not anything regular,” Lichtenstein said. “We see people who come in with bites of various sorts on an occasional basis – and most of them are, frankly, flea bites.”
Lichtenstein said that student inquiries about bed bug bites are rare, and no one can actually recall seeing a bed bug being brought in to confirm a diagnosis.
“But even in those situations, it’s extremely rare.” Lichtenstein added. “There’s no epidemic going on.”
According to a report on emerging infectious diseases published on the Web site for the Center for Disease Control, bed bugs appear to be increasingly common. The report says they are blood-sucking insects that grow up to seven millimeters in length and hide in cracks and crevices in beds, wooden furniture, floors and walls during the daytime –coming out to feed at night.
According to the Mayo Clinic Web site, some signs of possible bites include large, itchy patches of irritated skin up to eight inches across, skin inflammations and groups of small rashes similar to hives.
Lichtenstein said if a student does think they see a bed bug, he or she should try to capture it and bring it in to SHS for identification to determine if it is indeed a bed bug. An actual specimen is important in such a determination, he said, because a bed bug bite could look very similar to other bites.
“There’s nothing in particular as far as a bed bug bite that has any great hallmark to it to let you say, ‘Oh this is a bed bug bite,’ versus, ‘Oh this is a flea bite or a bite from some other insect,” he said.
Lichtenstein added that it’s important to note that bed bugs don’t pose any danger to humans.
“Bed bugs are not vectors of disease. They may be annoying, but that’s about it.”
Bedtime worries put to rest
Reports of residence hall bed bugs appear to be unfounded
Published: Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Updated: Wednesday, January 28, 2009
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