It's something no one wants to find: bed bugs. That's exactly what was discovered within the Revere School District.
School officials said there's been several cases where students have been bitten by these bugs. These creepy crawlers are especially problematic because they're so small — adult bugs are about the size of an apple seed, making them difficult to get rid of — and why school officials in Revere are sounding the alarm.
"They travel really fast. They show up with bites on you. I’ve had them before and I know how they are. It's disgusting," said Robert Santangelo, Revere High School student.
Speaking from experience, Santangelo wants nothing to do with the inconspicuous creatures that have a knack for moving around from host to host undetected.
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"Stay away from people and keeping to myself, you know?" said Santangelo.
Revere Public Schools wrote a letter to parents and staff, warning them about the pesky pests after three students in separate incidents were bitten by bed bugs in the last two weeks.
"It's something you don't want in your house," said Anne Belliveau, Revere school parent. "I really don't want bed bugs. No, not really my cup of tea."
"We just make sure that everything is clean, you know? And we checked the bodies and stuff like that," said Tanya Gorhan, another Revere school parent.
"She told me to be careful and stay away from people because we don't want that in my house!" said Revere High School student Jaliyah Romero.
Because when they bite, these bloodsuckers tend to leave a mark.
"I had them on my face before and they're very itchy. It doesn't look good," said Santangelo.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said they're not known for carrying diseases, but will cause you to want to scratch yourself to the point of losing sleep. That could impact student and teacher performance and attendance.
Assistant Superintendent Richard Gallucci noted that "in addition to providing support for the students and their family, we professionally treated any classroom and adjoining classrooms where bed bugs were present."
However, what Rafael Decico really wants to know is if he needs to worry about his grandchildren going to school.
"They've got three schools they're talking about, but they don't mention what school it is, the name of the school. I'd like to know that," said Decico.
School officials have not said which schools found the bugs, while the Revere Board of Health asked parents to pay particular attention to their children's bags and backpacks for the next several weeks.
For more information from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health on what to look for and how to handle bed bugs, click here.
