There's been a lot of Pollyannaish talk in the past month about how we may be turning the tide in the war against bedbugs, with rosy reports of the city "winning." Last month the city released stats suggesting that bedbug complaints to 311 were still on the rise, but were increasing at a slower pace. Victoryish! It was enough for DNAinfo, which triumphantly declared that the "bed bug epidemic that has plagued the city for nearly a decade finally appears to be waning." Today Patch brings the sad news that the bastards are surging, and have launched a brazen attack on schoolchildren in Carroll Gardens, in direct violation of the Geneva Bedbug Convention. more ›

Rooms at the Ritz-Carlton on Central Park start around $695 a night and can range up to $4,500. That may seem steep, but according to one maid, that price tag comes with plenty of extras, like parasites to relieve you of your blood free of charge. The worker, Rosanna Polanco, tells the Times that on Monday she was asked to service the room next to 1005, but she was not told what the problem was. Polanco says she only found out when she bumped into a worker from Ecolab Inc., which supplies cleaning products and pest elimination services. more ›

As if the fear of bed bugs wasn't enough to keep you up at night, now there's the fear of violent criminals exploiting that fear for their own frightening ends. Bugs! Blood! Terror! Police tell CBS2 two armed men wearing dust masks knocked on the door of a Murray Hill apartment on the morning of May 24th and told the tenant they were bed bug exterminators. Once the door was cracked, they allegedly brandished a gun and bashed the 60-year-old resident on the head. more ›

Just when you're kicking as much ass in Rockin'Yoga as an aerobics class named "RockinYoga" will allow you to kick, now you have to worry about parasites (not the ones wearing Bluetooths) when you hit the showers. Fancy Upper West Side gym Reebok Sports Club has bedbugs. Again. This time they found them in a locker in "the men's executive locker room," where it was probably feasting on the blood of some hedge fund manager because it tastes like butterscotch. more ›

A new law has gone into effect requiring landlords to disclose to prospective tenants any history of bedbug infestation in the apartment building and individual unit within the past year. The law has some people in the real estate industry a tad concerned that the stigma of bed bugs will leave them stuck with empty units, but at least nobody's resorting to hysterical hyperbole. "This is like AIDS in the beginning," says Gus Waite, vice president of rentals at The Real Estate Group of New York. "They just skeeve people out totally." (Somewhere in New York, an aspiring playwright is hard at work on Bedbugs in America: Millennium Recedes) more ›

Have you seen this parasite sucking blood from your child's head? Not yet maybe, but be vigilant. While there's no major lice outbreak to report in the city's schools so far, there's still reason to be afraid, because the critters are becoming immune to insecticides used in prescription and over the counter lice treatments. In fact, lice experts tell the Daily News it takes just three to five years for lice to adapt to a new product. more ›