After a 50-year hiatus, bed bugs are making a worldwide comeback, showing up in fancy hotels, hospitals, college dorms, schools and homes. In fact, bed bug complaints have jumped by 50 times over the last five years.

Bed bugs frequently are stowaways in luggage and shipping crates. The best strategy to deal with this nuisance is by using integrated pest management practices.

They are such a problem in New York City that Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) has proposed legislation to require the New York City Department of Education to implement a mandatory policy of parental notification. The legislation also would require schools to inform parents how to prevent infestations.

Most experts blame globalization as the major culprit: People and goods are traveling more widely and in greater numbers than ever before. As summer approaches, students return home and families pack up for far-flung travel adventures, these nocturnal, small and easily overlooked creatures can stow away in luggage and shipping creates.

For most people, bed bugs are a nuisance that leave itchy red welts that last three or four days and can trigger allergic reactions. While bed bugs feed on blood, they do not spread blood-related illnesses. Infestations are most frequently found where there are high rates of occupant turnover; they are usually not a reflection of poor hygiene or bad housekeeping.

Eliminating bed bugs requires applying a number of different measures, says Jody Gangloff-Kaufmann, senior extension associate for Cornell Cooperative Extension, who works with the New York State Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Program. She says effective control is best achieved using an IPM approach that includes preventive measures, sanitation and pesticides that pose the lowest risk to humans and the environment.

Among her recommendations:

• Try to find where bed bugs hide in the daytime by looking for black or brown spots of dried blood (insect feces), eggs, eggshells and cast skins in seams, tufts or folds of mattresses or daybed covers or crevices in bedsteads. In severe infestations, these may be found behind baseboards, window and door casings, picture frames and even in furniture. Severe infestations also may result in an offensive, sweet and musty odor.
• Clean and remove clutter to eliminate bed bug shelters. Repair crevices in walls, window sills and along baseboards to prevent future invasions.
• Vacuum with a brush attachment to loosen eggs and clean mattress covers.
• If pesticides are used, opt for the least toxic one.

If an expert is hired for a serious infestations or multitenant situation, ask for an IPM approach.

For more information, see http://nysipm.cornell.edu/publications/publand.asp and http://www.entomology.cornell.edu/Extension/DiagnosticLab/IDLFS/BedBugs/BedBugs.html.

Ann Noble Shephard is a communications consultant for Cornell Cooperative Extension.