Makerere University students staying at halls of residence have complained of the persistent parasitic bed bugs. They claim poor sanitation has led to the continuous breeding of bedbugs in their halls of residence.
Students residing in the halls claim they have tried spraying with a common drug called ‘larva’ but turns out this drug can’t really kill the old beg bugs. This drug only kills the young ones; in the larva stage and the eggs as well.
A first year student in Lumumba Hall, who only identified himself as Jacob, said he could hardly sleep at night, last semester because of the bloodsucking insects.
“We have bedbugs in Lumumba Hall. We told the custodians about this but they claim to have sprayed but there are no signs. Life is becoming hard. My friends from other halls are also complaining of the same. I’m so disappointed, this is not what I had expected from the 4th university in Africa,” he said.
How to get rid of bed bugs in your halls:
I think as we spray, we ought to use hot water first and ensure that there are no bugs in the joints especially of beds and other furniture and after that you can spray larva in a well-mixed solution i.e. 5litres of water per bottle of larva,” a student advises his fellows.
Spray bed bugs with rubbing alcohol. This kills them on the spot. Use the rubbing alcohol and a dish brush to kill the visible eggs, and then call an exterminator.
Wash and bag the affected items. Smaller items that cannot be laundered can sometimes be de-infested by heating. Individual items, for example, can be wrapped in plastic and placed in a hot, sunny location for at least a few days (the 120°F minimum target temperature should be monitored in the centermost location with a thermometer). Bedbugs also succumb to cold temperatures below freezing, but the chilling period must be maintained for at least two weeks. Attempts to rid an entire home or apartment of bed bugs by raising or lowering the thermostat will be entirely unsuccessful.
Point steam on them. You may get a simple device capable of generating steam at your local hardware store. You may also convert a simple electric kettle to a steam machine by attaching a flexible tube. Steam should kill all bedbugs and the eggs. Thoroughly spray steam at all corners and seams.
Vacuum your house. This will remove bugs and eggs from mattresses, carpet, walls and other surfaces. Pay particular attention to seams, tufts and edges of mattresses and box springs, and the perimeter edge of wall-to-wall carpets. Afterward, dispose of the vacuum contents in a sealed trash bag. Steam cleaning of carpets is also helpful for killing bugs and eggs that vacuuming may have missed.
