Best Practices to get rid of and prevent bedbug in school dometories and hostels

Best Practices to get rid of and prevent bedbug in school dometories and hostels

Written by Abet Tonny

In 2018, I did a community survey on Geopoll -an online survey app. I was asking people whether they had had encounter with bedbugs. 50 people responded, they were Ugandans. Unsurprisingly, 30/50 -60% said they experienced bedbug in schools during their secondary and post-secondary education. Another survey I conducted in Makerere University community in 2015 revealed that 75% of the students had had experience with bedbug at some point in schools and institutions residences.

No school or university was constructed with bedbugs. The Bedbugs are brought to these places by students, teachers or lecturers and suppport workers serving in these settings.

Effective way to get rid of and prevent bedbug in these settings thus involves analysis of the dynamics under which bedbug can be brought in and developing practical ways to stop these. All in all, bedbug is so costly to get rid of and they have huge impacts on psycho-social wellbeing of pupils and students affecting even their class performance. Bedbugs can not be controlled by the periodic mosquito etadication sprays prefered by administrators.

Schools and hostels should develop bedbug investigation protocal where belongings of every atudent or pupil reporting during start of term or semestre are checked for potential signs of bedbug.
With simple knowledge, signs of bedbug bites on the skin and face can also be evident enough to take appropriate measures. Admnistrators should develop customised policies for handling event like this.

Periodic inspection of school should be done to assess for signs of bedbug infestation. The fewer the bedbugs population, the cheaper to control.
In the event of infestation, insecticide should be applied by experienced pest control service provider experienced in bedbug control.
The use of insecticides should be combined with other approaches like steam treatment, vacuumers and mass cleaning of potentially affected area or belongings and drying in hot settings. This is preferably done during wekend or holidays when occupants are away.

Focus should be placed on educating all school or institution commuity in basic identification, prevention and control ways for bedbug. Here, relevant education materials should be distributed to them or stocked in libraries. Whatsapp and social media groups where discussion can continue should be set to allow for upcoming queations answered by peers and entomologist.

Resident facilities should always ve kept clean and uncluttered. Where as bedbug is not associated with uncleanliness, a decent room will allow for fast and easy detection of the attack making the response timely and the infestation cheaply controlled.
Pupils and students should decist from picking and using lost and found clothes, bedding, bags and furniture. They are potentially bedbug infested. Thoroughly check and clean properly before use.

Always wash clothes with powder detergents. They have chemicals that disrupt proteins in bedbug and kill the younger bedbugs.
Treat potentially affected belongings with steaming hot water.
Dry your clothes in hot settings or do ironing.
Always keep your clothes in zipped bags away from the bed.

Lastly and most importantly, use mattress encasements to protect your mattress from bedbug infestation. The largest number of bedbugs are often found colonising mattresses.