Bedbug sufferers need solutions

Toronto StarBedbug sufferers need solutions

Long-awaited report tabled today

November 17, 2008

Joe Fiorito - The bedbug committee tables its interim report today. Many people are anxious to read it. Many more are wondering if they can get actual help, where they can get help, how they can get help; they are also wondering what kind of help there is in the fight against these bloodsuckers.I got a note from a friend of the column the other day. It came the old-fashioned way, in an envelope. I will protect her identity because, in addition to making life a living hell, bedbugs carry stigma, and with stigma comes a different kind of suffering. I have taken the liberty of editing slightly. She writes:"I once had a bug infestation brought into my house by my husband after he bought a newer-style hat from (a local service club.) Everybody had tried it on; someone had `company.' What to do? I got them, too."I had no washing machine; laundering was out. I got rid of them by using my steam iron on pillows, sheets, blankets, pyjamas and the bed mattress daily."Live steam cooks eggs and all else. People used to iron all their fabrics but polyester – no iron – is easier; nice, but the critters can survive in the dryer because no-iron has to have cooler temperatures. Old ladies like me often still own an ironing board and steam iron. It is work but it is cheap."We'll see what the report has to say about the use of the steam iron.You know from previous columns going back over at least a year that the bedbug problem is widespread across the GTA, in all sorts of neighbourhoods, from Oshawa to Hamilton, and from the lakeshore up to Barrie. I have my own little Q and A in advance of the report:Do most people know where and how to get help if they have an infestation? No. Does Public Health offer help and advice? They offer more advice than help. Is there any kind of help available right now? Not much, and it doesn't come fast.Can we compel landlords to spray an infected apartment? Not at the moment. Do landlords know that, for spraying to be effective in an apartment building or a rooming house, it ought to include the units above, below and to the side of the affected unit? Most don't.Can a tenant be compelled to submit to spraying? Not at the moment. Do bugs spread quickly if left unchecked? Yes. Should tenants be allowed to refuse help? Not in my opinion.Does anyone have to power to compel such intervention? Not really. Should the city pass a bylaw to compel compliance? In my view, yes. But compliance ought to be compelled with a gentle hand; in some cases, help must be delivered with a dollop of social and psychological services.Are "natural remedies" any good? I've yet to see proof. Is steam-cleaning a useful treatment on wood floors? No. Can you get bedbugs on public transit? I have used all forms of public transit almost daily for the past 11 years; I have, touch wood, no bugs to report.I also know that when we throw an infested mattress in the trash, it is likely that someone who needs a mattress will take it, and its bugs, home with them. I will judge the report according to how it answers these and other questions.I have a final thought, perhaps for inclusion in the report: We require restaurants to post notices assuring us we may dine safely here or there; why do we not require landlords to post similar notices indicating buildings are bedbug free? Stay tuned.