Bedbugs are about 4 to 7 millimeters long. They are flat, oval, reddish brown, turn red when sucking human blood, and can bite up to 90 times a night. Recently, they have frequently appeared on public transportation and public places such as trains and movie theaters around the world.

However, bedbugs have recently spread in the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, and reports related to bedbugs have been reported in Korea due to the influx of foreign tourists and the increase in Koreans who have been abroad.

Although they had been nearly eradicated in Korea since the 1990s, cases of bedbugs believed to have been introduced from abroad have been reported steadily in recent weeks.

Experts point to increased tourist numbers since the pandemic as the main reason for the spread of bedbugs. The quarantine measures have been lifted, and tourists from all over the world are coming in and out of major tourist destinations, worsening the sanitary environment of accommodations and other public places.

The bedbugs are deeply hidden, so you can lift the bed mattress to see if there is red-brown excrement, pressed marks, shells, and tears at the corners of the bed or in the creases of the rug.

If you find bedbugs, you should spray high-heated steam, vacuum all places contaminated with bedbugs, and disinfect clothes or curtains with a dryer to prevent any more damage.

L.L.F reporter Min-a Lee