A few University of Hawaii-Manoa students said yesterday they have been bedeviled by bedbugs in their dorms.

Brooks Donaldson, 21, who lives at Hale Laulima, said, "I’ve had a couple bites here and there. … They’re not regular. If it persists in the future, I’ll report it, but I’m OK for now."

Officials say they have confirmed one bedbug case this academic year, UH spokeswoman Diane Chang said.

UH-Manoa’s Office of Student Housing Services sent out a mass e-mail yesterday to dorm-dwellers because the office has been flooded with questions about the pests.

The lowly bedbug has become somewhat of a national obsession recently.

The critters have made a resurgence nationally and have been found crawling in a range of settings from movie theaters and stores to homes and hotels.

UH student Blake Miller, 18, is skeptical of student reports. "It’s not bedbugs," he said. "It’s just people thinking it’s bedbugs. People are just paranoid. There’s not that many in Hawaii."

The e-mail to students says, "We do have a few bedbug issues each academic year, but bedbugs are not widespread in our facilities. There is nothing inherent about our facilities or furnishing that ‘attract’ bedbugs."

The e-mail said that most of the time, suspected bedbugs are sand mites, and confirmed bedbugs are from students returning from travel.

"If you believe you have bedbugs, please report to our staff," the e-mail says, adding that staff will provide instruction on washing bedding and clothes to kill the insects, and will call an exterminator.

The e-mail also asks for a sample of the bug "because the vast majority of the time bedbugs are suspected, there are no bedbugs."

Haylie Welch, 18, has not had any bedbugs, but said, "My friend Josh had bites all over his arms and legs, like gnat bites."