Editing Bed bug (section)

===Prevention===
To prevent bringing home bed bugs from outside the home, people are advised to take precautions after visiting an infested site or traveling on means of transport that may be infested; precautions  include checking shoes on leaving the site, changing clothes outside the house before entering, and putting the used clothes in a [[clothes dryer]] outside the house. When visiting a new lodging, it is advised to check the bed before taking suitcases into the sleeping area, and putting the suitcase on a raised stand to make bedbugs less likely to crawl in. Clothes should be hung up or left in the suitcase rather than left on the floor.<ref name=sciam12>{{cite web|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bed-bug-expert-explains-defend-yourself/|title=Bed Bug Confidential: An Expert Explains How to Defend against the Dreaded Pests|newspaper=Scientific American|date=23 January 2012|author=Kate Wong|access-date=19 August 2018|archive-date=19 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819182133/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bed-bug-expert-explains-defend-yourself/|url-status=live}}</ref> Additional preventative measures include sealing cracks and crevices (where bed bugs often hide), inspecting furniture, and decontaminating clothes and luggage upon returning home.<ref name="Parola" /> The founder of a company dedicated to bedbug extermination said that 5% of hotel rooms he booked into were infested. He advised people never to sit down on public transport; check office chairs, plane seats, and hotel mattresses; and monitor and vacuum home beds once a month.<ref name=obs18au18>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/aug/19/bedbugs-heatwave-sparks-plage-pest-infestation |title=Bedbugs plague hits British cities |newspaper=The Observer |date=19 August 2018 |access-date=19 August 2018 |last1=Sherwood |first1=Harriet |archive-date=23 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190423045138/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/aug/19/bedbugs-heatwave-sparks-plage-pest-infestation |url-status=live }}</ref> Close all wall openings or gaps; bed bugs tend to hide in dark places such as cracks in walls. Second-hand furnishings may harbour bedbugs.