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" Bed bugs tap-danced their way across New York City this summer: First they infested the giant Hollister flagship in Soho, then they materialized at a midtown Victoria&amp;#039;s Secret (I&amp;#039;ve bought things there! Gah!), then they showed up at ELLE magazine and went to the movies in Times Square...There&amp;#039;s a Cassandra-like part of me that feels just a tiny bit smug about this, as I&amp;#039;ve been yelling about bed bugs for years now, but the schadenfreude is short-lived; it doesn&amp;#039;t feel good to know that other people have also gotten hit. Also, bed bugs are not chicken pox: Having them once doesn&amp;#039;t mean you won&amp;#039;t have them again, it just means you&amp;#039;re especially paranoid about infestation. I found a tiny bug in our bathroom sink a few nights ago - a bug that looked nothing like a bed bug (bed bugs look like this) - and my stomach dropped into my feet. I wouldn&amp;#039;t let my husband go to sleep until we&amp;#039;d whipped out our strongest flashlight, pulled the bed from the wall and ripped off the fitted sheet, and inspected every last crease on our box spring and mattress (they love the creases, you see) for bugs. We&amp;#039;re clear, but I&amp;#039;ll probably do that every week or so for the next year.  Fall and winter mean holiday travel, and travel presents some of bed bugs&amp;#039; favorite opportunities to spread: They love taxis, hotel rooms, seats on subway platforms, coat checks, airplane cargo holds...if you thought bed bugs spiked this summer, just wait until the season gets into full swing. For my full set of tips on how to keep bed bugs out of your life, check out Bed Bugs 101. I sincerely hope none of the images I link look familiar to you!  UPDATE: As of this afternoon, local news outlets are reporting bed bug action at Macy&amp;#039;s and Bloomingdale&amp;#039;s. Lest you think NYC is feeling the worst of the scourge, though, consider this: According to Yahoo, top regions searching for &amp;quot;bed bugs&amp;quot; this month are Oklahoma City, Columbus, and Detroit. Top states searching for the same term, in turn, are Oklahoma, Ohio, and North Carolina. Location aside, total searches for &amp;quot;how to kill bed bugs&amp;quot; (answer: call a professional immediately) are up 334%.   "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.redbookmag.com/home/advice/a5991/battling-bed-bugs/?link=emb&dom=yah_life&src=syn&con=blog_redbook&mag=rbk>