The bad news around here is that bed bugs can spread. They can catch a ride in your clothing or bag, and hop off somewhere else to start a new life. It’s worth considering this possibility, as you are. The good news is, it is possible to avoid this using some precautions.
It’s also worth noting that they can bite during the daytime, a fact which some people just don’t acknowledge. If bed bugs are in a school, a corporate office, or somewhere else where people are not sitting or lying down at night, they will bite by daylight.
It can be transferred to an office or transferred from the office to elsewhere.
Though few people report this happening, it is better to take precautions against it. If it does happen, not only can you create a stressful situation at work, but you are also likely to reinfest yourself at home, even if treatment at home is going well.
Precautions might include carefully inspecting purses, shoes, etc. and treating them in appropriate ways if necessary; storing them in the home carefully; washing and drying clothing on hot and storing it in sealed containers before use; showering and dressing in this cleaned-dried-sealed-up clothing directly before going out to work or anywhere else.
If, instead, you sit around at home, then hop up, grab a bag off your (possibly infested) sofa, hop in the car, and go to work (friend’s home, etc.) then you are more likely to bring bed bugs elsewhere. And while few people have reported taking them to work, many people have reported giving them to relatives, friends, etc. Some folks think they have bed bugs at home, where they might actually be bitten at work. Since bite marks and itching seem to appear after one is bitten (anywhere from a few hours to the next day or longer), it is possible to be bitten at work and think you are bitten at home. Keeping a log of when new bites appear might help you pinpoint this. Most people seem to first notice new bites sometime the day after being bitten: in the morning, afternoon, or evening, in many cases. Lots of Bedbuggers notice them after a warm or hot shower, or exercise, suggesting that heat can “bring them out” somehow. That is based on anecdotal evidence; unfortunately, this stuff has not really been studied yet.
Bugs can be living on a chair at home. Sofas, soft chairs, desk chairs, anything really: if you sit there for long periods (working at your desk, zoning out at home in front of the internet or a movie), you can be bitten. And they are likely to hide out near where they feed. But remember, in addition to beds or chairs, bed bugs can actually live in the room itself (under baseboards, in floor cracks, around edges of carpeting, even behind electrical plates).
They can be transported through hugging or close contact with others.
It is possible, but not easy. They will “hitchhike” in your bag, or even an item of clothing. If you are wearing washed, clean clothes, and if you take care to store items like coats and shoes properly, then it would be difficult for them to do so. Also, even if they did hitchhike, say in a trouser cuff or bag, they would not likely ride around very long. They want to bite you and then run off and hide inside something that is not moving! The eggs be transported. It is possible a bed bug could have left an egg in your clothing. However, eggs take 6-17 days to hatch according to a report. So, if you’re washing your clothing and storing it better during your infestation, this should not be a problem because washing and drying on hot will kill bed bugs and eggs.
