UIC investigating suspected case of bed bugs in dorm

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The University of Illinois - Chicago is investigating a suspected case of bed bugs in one of their dorms, school officials said.

Nathalia Rucci said something is eating her skin inside her UIC dorm room.

"I woke up last Friday morning with three bites on my face," she said. "I thought they were pimples."

Then she kept looking.

"As soon as I got out of the shower and saw these on the back of my arm, I was just disgusted. Just really gross," Rucci said.

These clusters of red bumps, she believes, are bed bugs that she thinks have infested her mattress.

"My shirt had stains on it. You can see that's like a rusting kind of color, I guess they leave that where they stay," she said.

Rucci said she called UIC staff days ago to inform them and ask for help. With bites on her body, she said she asked for another place to sleep temporarily.

"She said no because I would be contaminating another room. It's really disgusting sleeping in my bed, I feel uncomfortable that I'm getting bit every night," said Rucci.

UIC officials released a statement Thursday night:

"The university takes all reports of suspected bed bugs seriously and has specific procedures in place to treat affected areas. We take an aggressive, preventative approach to ensure that when a student reports bed bugs, the area is scheduled for inspection and treatment by qualified professional exterminators as soon as possible. If bed bugs are found, residents are advised not to move to another dorm room, stay with a friend, or stay in places off-campus because they may actually spread bed bugs to others."

"I'm not the one contaminated, it's my bed and my room that's contaminated," Rucci said.

For now, her dorm room is scheduled to be inspected Friday, but she's still itching and will have to sleep there again tonight.