Don't let that bedbugs bite.

• Position: Pest Control

Bedbug outbreaks across the U.S. require a proactive approach, advocates Marc Lame, clinical assistant professor at the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Bloomington, and a specialist in pest management. Lame says operators of housing that is susceptible to infestations--such as hotels, college dorms, apartments, and shelters--should make plans for preventing and responding to the problem.

Bedbugs are small, reddish-brown insects the size of apple seeds that live in the cracks and folds of mattresses, sofas, and sheets. They hide during the day and come out at night, puncturing the skin of their hosts and feeding on blood. Bedbugs do not spread disease, but their bites can cause severe itching and occasionally lead to infection.

Bedbugs nearly were eradicated in the U.S. after World War II, but they have made a comeback, spread by increasing world travel in an era when persistent pesticides such as DDT no longer are used. "It's what some people call a perfect storm, and those who rely on pesticides are finding that bedbugs have built up a tremendous amount of resistance, just like they did with DDT in the 1950s", Lame explains. "Pesticides aren't working that well...