Bed bugs bite back with vengeance

Donal Hickey says the insects are growing in number

THEY are tiny, six-legged insects that hide during the day and feast on your blood at night. Some people may believe that, like the snakes in St Patrick’s time, they were banished years ago through the use of DDT and other chemical solutions, but they never went away. Now they appear to be growing in number.

The thought of something sucking your blood as you sleep gives the creeps, but bed-bug infestations are continually being reported by pest control companies in this country, Britain and the US — definitely not a time to be buying a secondhand mattress.