Bed bugs have invaded a Hamilton Township, New Jersey elementary school, causing consternation among parents and school officials. A Langtree Elementary School student brought the nasty little blood-suckers to class from home. Adept hitchhikers, bed bugs spread easily on the clothing of people who have been exposed. The size of an apple seed, these tiny insects like to hide in small, dark places and may have ridden to school in the child’s backpack.

Although they carry the social stigma of association with unclean or impoverished people, bed bugs are equal opportunity pests, plaguing rich and poor alike. Blood-feeding bed bugs are attracted by human bodies, not filth.

Hamilton, New Jersey school officials called in professional pest control experts to exterminate bed bugs from the elementary school and have issued an all clear to parents. But parents should remain wary. Many bed bugs are resistant to typical pesticides which do not kill bed bug eggs. Also, if bed bugs are not effectively exterminated from the home where the bed bug infestation origination, the school could easily be reinfested.