Hi Lisette,
 
Sounds like your friend has an infestation of fleas at his house.
Generally they don't "live" on humans to the extent that a person could
carry them around with them, although it would be possible for one to "come
along for the ride" in a trouser cuff, terry on a sock, etc.  If you are
concerned after visiting/transporting this young man, check closely on your
body - almost always from the knees down as fleas are not really climbers
but hoppers, and possibly wear a bug repellent when you enter his home for
the time being.
 
In all honesty if your friend has that many fleas in his home, flea powder
is not going to even make a dent in the problem.  Bug bombs are usually the
most effective although a lot of people are not comfortable with using
them.  All in all the house will likely need to be treated twice over a
couple of weeks.  Some other suggestions - sprinkling oregano, marjoram,
and rosemary mixed with baking soda on the carpeted areas helps repel them
from an area.  The most effective solution I've used (other than bug bombs)
is to put ONE moth ball in the vacuum cleaner bag and vacuum the floor
thoroughly, the moth ball will kill the fleas as they hatch in the bag
(or you can carry it immediately out and throw it away as well, but vacuum
bags are expensive).  This needs to be repeated every couple of days for
at least two weeks to hopefully get all live fleas and eggs but it is much
more biologically safe for people and animals than whole scale bug bombs
and chemicals that a company can spray.  It is a personal choice.
 
Any animals that have fleas in the household also have to be treated at the
SAME time - flea dips are very effective but cats aren't known to love them
(I suggest a professionally groomer or vet to handle the dip for a cat)!
Also the long term flea-treatment products like Sentinel and Advantage are
great to prevent reoccurrence AFTER the flea population is exterminated.
 
I would definitely NOT take your fuzzies to his home during all this.  The
big thing to remember is that fleas live on "beings" not "things".  They
get their nutrition from a blood meal.  They generally don't live on humans
because we have little hair for them to hide in and cling too (well most of
us anyway!).  We dealt with fleas off and on when we lived in the south,
they can be a real pain........Also if your friend has a yard populated by
squirrels they are a ready source of fleas in people's yards.
 
Hopefully this will give you some ideas and you can decide what you might
want to do for yourself and your friend.  Flea bites are itchy, and can
become infected easily, not to mention they can carry diseases as well.
 
Karla
[Posted in FML issue 2785]