Containing and treating
Often, if only one or two bedbugs are seen, it means they were brought in on an ambulance or by a patient's personal belongings. Once a hospital determines that it has a minor infestation, it can get rid of the problem through basic isolation - getting rid of a bed or a piece of furniture - explained Harrison.

"If you go into a long-term care facility or a rehabilitation center, you may be inclined to do a lot of work where you're treating beds, linens - depending on how bad the infestation is," he said.
It's rare, said Harrison, that a hospital will experience a full-on outbreak. But in that situation, exterminators often use heat treatments, steaming or freezing. In a hospital situation, he said, fumigation is generally a last resort.

Bedbugs are notoriously hard to get rid of due to their resistance to most pesticides and their nocturnal nature - they only come out at night.

"If you're not paying attention and the infestation gets out of control, it can be quite expensive to take care of bedbugs," said Harrison. "It's not a do-it-yourself kind of job."

Cost
It's hard to pinpoint an exact cost to get rid of bedbugs, explained Harrison. It could be in the hundreds or thousands of dollars, depending on the size of the infestation.

"If I find a few crawling around, it's on the low end," said Harrison. "If I find a big infestation, it's on the high end."

An Orkin spokeswoman would only say that for commercial infestations, the cost varies depending on the number of rooms infested, increasing if the infestation went either unnoticed or unreported for a long period of time, making the treatment more extensive.

But the problem of bedbugs comes down to paying attention. Outbreaks can be contained and costs can be saved by remaining vigilant.

"Just looking around and paying attention can prevent [bedbugs] from getting around," said Harrison.

Brendon Nafziger contributed to this report.

Back to HCB News

More Industry Headlines