my doctor freaked me out - do we need a sleep sack?

ignatius riley

Hi there,

Our travel doc suggested we bring our own pre-treated with bug spray sheets to sleep in. In fact, she went so far as to say we should sew two sheets together and sleep in that on top of the bed.

Is this extreme? Should I be worried about disease carrying bed bugs?

I'm trying to keep all the medical advice in perspective and have followed much of the preventative care found on this site...however, I just don't know about this one.

Nick-H

Did she explain why? On account of bed bugs?

Unless you are travelling very-low-budget you are very unlikely to encounter any. I never have.

But watch out if you go to London: I read recently that they are becoming very common there!

Furthermore, the diseases carried by mosquitoes are more worrying.

Permethrin-treated sheets would help to keep off mossies; you could do it if you wanted. Down-south you'll probably not want to be covered anyway, due to the heat.

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the opoponax

I traveled low budget and as far as I can tell, I didn't encounter any, either.

My doctor said a lot of things that intimidated me, too -- I think it's part of their job. Better to get people feeling a little over-cautious than to be all "oh, come ON, you're not going to get malaria..." and be proven wrong when the patient has to be airlifted home two weeks later.

Some people like to bring a sleeping bag liner, though, because sheets can sometimes be not very clean -- I got the sense sometimes that sheets are not necessarily changed between guests. They can also be convenient as bedding on trains in sleeper class. In addition, sometimes bedding conventions are a little different, especially if you're a budget traveler. The bed may not have a top sheet, may not come with enough blankets (or the blanket may be filthy dirty), etc. Some really cheap places I stayed only had a sewn-on bedcover between me and the mattress. If this distresses you, you might be more comfortable with a sleep sheet. I used a lunghi that I'd bought as a beach blanket/towel/cover-up in Goa. Cotton dupattas from Fabindia also work well.

If you're booking a midrange place in a major metro for your first few nights in country, there will probably be a clean bed made up like you're used to, or you can easily ask for what you need. So you probably won't need to bring something directly from home unless you're really OCD and you know it would make you feel more comfortable.

You should not be afraid to bring anything from home that you know will ease the transition -- nobody's going to judge you if you decide that a permethrin-treated sleep sheet is worth bringing along. And if they do, they're an asshole anyway.

wonderwomanusa

I don't believe bedbugs carry any diseases, they are just an annoyance and the bites can be very uncomfortable.

One of my favorite shopping items, when I first get back to India, is a new blanket-type thing. I'm getting a great collection. Last year's was a "purdah curtain" (from the Bihar emporium in Delhi); it has elephants on it.

I usually carry something -- a blanket, a saree, a lunghi -- to put on the bed if it looks unclean.

edwardseco

I like the sleep sack and now carry one. Don't know about the rest. Go for silk..

the opoponax

Wow, WonderWoman -- I went into the Bihar emporium, glanced around, noticed that it seemed to be selling mostly Kashmiri items at very un-competitive prices, and quickly left for whatever was next door.

Maybe I should have looked around a little more.

amyl

That would be a good example of an euphemism.

Those nasty creatures. just make me wonder if Mother Nature had enough free time at hand to just create some sundry creatures, who eventually and unfortunately for us, turned out to be simply horrific. Mosquitoes and house flies join this crew of useless-creations. Out of college, spending a month at a place in Pune gave the want-it-to-be-a-once-in-a-lifetime experience with these creatures. Totally helpless at night my friends literally used kerosene on their body . Another lad I saw in the morning was peacefully sleeping near the bathroom entrance....he had made a watery circle around him to keep the bugs off from crawling into his pants. Innovative!

ah...they are nasty yes but most probably not at places you will be spending your days. I have an inclination to a proper (small packed-size) sleeping bag than a bedsheet or lungi. Versatile, durable, dust/dirt-free. More advisable if you are traveling in trains in sleeper classes. I never felt like spreading my bedsheet or lungi on such places. But in sleeper compartments I am more watchful of the rats than bugs.

Apart from of course the mozzi-net . I am the most peacefully sleeping person on earth when I am well off from the millions of mosquitoes hovering outside albeit just a feet away from my skin. I tend to laugh at them in conceit and sometimes show finger at them before going to a sound sleep


Another creature...oh I forgot what it is called...small black, flying thing, extremely illusive and bites like hell with a small irritating swell in just a couple of mins. My sister screams the heck out of us if she even suspects one to be around her. These are more at places near animal shelters though. Typically if one is in villages.

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the opoponax

Actually the insect that caused me the most grief in India was neither the mosquito nor the bedbug, but the humble ant.

You see, the cute little "Brown Bread German Bakery" in Varanasi where I ate many of my meals turned out to be infested with them. The first 2 or 3 times I ate there I thought little of this -- OK, so I'd eat at German Bakery, then I'd notice a little bite around my ankles or on my toes. Whatever, no big deal, especially since it's not going to give me dengue fever or anything.

And then came the time when a couple of them got trapped in my pants. I had STRIPES of ant bites in exactly the sorts of places you don't want to be seen scratching in public. The tube of hydrocortisone cream I'd packed leapt from "Most Useless Item" to "Most Important Item" in the course of an hour or so.

amyl

Oh...Ants in Pants that is

College thing....a friend bumped into running for a class..late. But frantically left in just a couple of minutes. Later, still looking shaken, he reveled he had hordes of red ands in the pant he had chosen in a hurry. He likes roasted, salted peanuts a lot. Ants like them too!

brownboy66

I would of thought that of all the things that could bite you here, (with some resulting in a serious illness) - bed bugs would have been fairly low on the list ? Still not nice - but low on the list.

NeeliAankhen

I think taking bedbugs home is a more serious worry than a bite or two. IF you have them in your house it can be a nightmare to try to get rid of them.

amyl

Very true! One gets a little paranoid if that thought of getting some unwanted permanent guests home comes to mind. I tended to think the same with white ants. I was seriously thinking of somehow 'scanning' a bag I picked up from a friend. His full-wall-wardrobe had turned into a feeble frame of sawdust.

Rasika

I usually travel with a light-weight silk sack anyway: it doesn't weight much, but can add a bit of warmth in cold hotel rooms, hostels and trains, and can cover disgusting bedding. I wouldn't want to have it impregnated with bug-killer though.

My friends make their sleep sacks from nice kashmiri silk sarees, which leave them enough silk to also use as a matching travel towel. Pure luxury with not much extra weight.

Nick-H

Amyl, loved the ants story, not so sure about the bedbugs. .

Ignatius, you don't tell us what sort of places you are looking to stay, but anywhere of mid budget and above, in fact, anywhere but the worst places, and you should not have these sort of problems.

Unless you really are going cheap, if a room is dirty, or bedclothes are not clean, either the hotel corrects it or you leave.

Nick-H

Here, I sleep with a bit of sheet over me: its like a security-blanket thing, I just don't like to be uncovered.

Unless Mrs N has cranked up the AC (ie put it on a low temperature and then gone to sleep, leaving me to join her in an ice-box) I really would not want to be covered. I'd be just too hot and sweaty.

People seem to have differing experiences with the fabrics, but I would never want my sheet to be silk. I find it very much more sweaty than cotton. I only wear it for very special occasions, and preferably in winter. For the same reason, Mrs N is unwilling to often wear silk saris, though I love them.