Patrons say bed bugs are biting them at Gulfport movie theater

More than one person on Facebook is complaining that bed bugs bit them or family members while they were watching movies at Cinemark 16 theater.

A corporate spokesman for Cinemark failed to respond to two messages left Monday by the Sun Herald. The manager at the Gulfport cinema complex in Crossroads shopping center says he is not authorized by corporate offices to speak with the media.

The Mississippi Health Department confirms it received a complaint Monday about bed bugs at Cinemark. Spokesperson Liz Sharlot told the Sun Herald: “The Health Department has nothing to do with bed bugs. They’re not disease-carrying insects.”

The bed bug’s bite can leave red marks that itch and can become infected, according to pest-control company Orkin. Bed bugs feed on blood.

A Facebook post written by Miranda Rester detailed her trip Thursday afternoon to Cinemark with her best friend to see the thriller “Unforgettable.”

“ . . . I kept itching real bad!” she wrote. “I started to realize I had big whelps all over my shoulders and legs (I was in shorts and a tank top) after the movie was over I went into the restroom to look in the mirror and I was covered in bite marks!”

Rester said she complained to the manager, who gave her free movie passes. But she’s not anxious to return to Cinemark. Her post on Friday has been shared more than 1,600 times by Monday afternoon, with several commenters saying they, too, had been bitten by bed bugs at the theater.

Rester’s post prompted a second woman, identified on Facebook as Natalie Lowe of Gulfport, to share her experience. Lowe said in her post Monday that her daughter broke out in red bumps about 24 hours after seeing a movie at Cinemark, while her husband’s bite marks emerged 48 hours later.

She said she took her daughter, who had more than 100 bites, to the doctor twice and was told her daughter’s bites were the third case in a week involving moviegoers. Lowe’s post had been shared 375 times Monday afternoon.

The Sun Herald was unable to reach either woman Monday about the bites.

This story was originally published May 1, 2017 at 4:45 PM with the headline "Patrons say bed bugs are biting them at Gulfport movie theater."