By Adam Swift
School officials are urging families to check their children’s backpacks for evidence of bed bugs after evidence of their bites was found on students in the past several weeks.
Last week, Assistant Superintendent of Schools Richard Gallucci sent a letter to staff and families stating that the school district had contacted the Revere Board of Health after evidence of bed bugs or bed bug bites had been found in three separate incidents over the previous two weeks.
“In addition to providing support for the student and their family, we professionally treated any classroom (and adjoining classrooms) where bed bugs were present,” Gallucci stated.
Those treatments were in line with state department of public health guidelines.
“We are asking that families closely monitor any bags or backpacks that your students take to school for the next several weeks to ensure that your student does not have any signs of bed bugs,” Gallucci stated.
Gallucci referred families to the department of public health’s website for additional tips on monitoring, preventing, and treating the spread of bed bugs.
“Bed bugs are becoming an increasing problem in many cities and towns,” according to the state department of public health’s website. “This may be because more people are traveling out of the country to places where bed bugs are a problem. Public health and housing officials have encountered bed bug infestation in both single and multi-family housing units.
“In the past few years, there have also been reports of bed bugs in the workplace in the United States.”
Bed bugs feed on the blood of people and animals, but unlike mosquitoes, bed bugs do not transmit diseases to people, according to the DPH. They typically live in bedding in homes, and usually bite at night when people are sleeping. They do not have wings and cannot fly, but can be transported by “hitchhiking” on personal belongings.
