Bed bug call-outs rise 44 percent as expert warns of office spread
Bed bug call-outs are up 44 percent, with an expert saying the pests are spreading from hotels and transport into homes and offices and urging regular bed checks.
How it was covered
- Channel 5 was the only channel found covering it.
- BBC News, BBC One, BBC Two, Channel 4, GB News, ITV and Sky News: not found in tracked broadcasts.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story. Facts only one channel reported are attributed to it.
New figures show bed bug call-outs have risen by 44 percent. The pests are hitching a ride into homes on suitcases and sofas, and an expert has warned that infestations are increasingly being found in offices as well as homes.
Bed bug expert David Cain said the rise has multiple causes. People can pick the insects up in hotels or on public transport. They can also bring them from home or pick them up on the way to work, after which the bugs can spread between office cubicles. He said the problem has been growing for the best part of 20 years.
Detection and treatment
Getting rid of bed bugs is not straightforward. Cain said overuse of chemicals has led to resistance. He advised people to check and clean their beds for about 30 minutes once a month. The average person spends 180 hours a month sleeping, so regular checks can catch an infestation early. People should look for live samples, cast skins and faecal traces.
Bites are not a reliable warning sign. Cain said 60 percent of people do not initially respond to bed bug bites, meaning an infestation can go unnoticed. He recommended a passive bed bug monitor, which works a little like a bird box. It is installed on the bed and checked regularly; if bugs enter, they stop and excrete on the detection surface. If an infestation is caught early, the monitor can be removed, the room vacuumed and a fresh monitor put down.
Cain also recalled a New York studio that had a bed bug problem around 2009 or 2010 and sent staff home. The presenter of the programme said the current studio was clean. The overall advice was to avoid picking up bed bugs where possible and to check beds regularly if exposure cannot be avoided.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| An expert stated that bed bugs can spread in offices when people bring them from home or pick them up while commuting. | |
| Around 60 percent of people do not initially react to bed bug bites, so infestations can go unnoticed. | |
| Bed bug call-outs increased by 44 percent. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
5 News with Dan Walker treated the story as a consumer advice segment. It used a live bed bug expert and dead specimens on paper to explain the 44 percent rise, with a strong focus on office spread, detection and resistance to chemicals. The tone was informal and practical, including a studio anecdote about a New York office outbreak.
- “New figures show bed bug call-outs. They're up by a huge 44%.”
- “60% of people don't initially respond to bed bug bites so you can have an infestation in home and not be aware of it.”
- “They're not particularly easy because, unfortunately, where everyone has overused chemicals, they've developed resistance.”
Who was on air
People and organisations each channel put on air while covering this story. Channels' own presenters and reporters are not listed. Names as transcribed, and the list can miss people.
- 17:24 BST
David Cain, our bed bug expert
5 News with Dan Walker · Fri 23 Oct
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.