Head lice
By Dr. Brown
Head Lice is caused by an insect called Pediculus Humanus Capitis. Now that school has started again, parents are starting to get those dreaded letters saying your child or classmate has lice. Lice can affect all kinds of people. Head Lice are not a health hazard and they are not responsible for spread of any known disease (other than panic, anxiety, or fear). They are not a sign of being unclean or poor hygiene.
Most of the things you will hear about Head Lice are myths.
Here are the FACTS OF LICE:
The word lice is plural of louse, a small insect. Lice are tiny and reddish brown and lay many eggs which hatch quickly in 6-10 days. The empty dead eggshell, called a nit remains attached to the hair shaft and grows with the hair at the rate of 1 cm per month. The nit is a whitish cylinder and is itself not contagious. It can not spread infection to anyone. However, many schools have a no nit policy because if you get rid of the nits, you presumably also got rid of the original infection. For cosmetic reasons, it is fine to remove the nits. A fine toothed comb works well to nit pick as does a vinegar:water (1:1) solution to rinse the hair after shampooing with the anti lice shampoo.
Head Lice can and do spread from person to person by head to head contact such as sleeping in the same bed and sharing hats. Once off the body, they die quickly, in one to two days. They need the warmth of the body to survive. This is why a cold winter kills them.
Treatment Options:
Anti-lice Shampoos that are over the counter, such as NIX. This product kills the lice and their eggs. There is a residue left on the scalp for 2 weeks which helps prevent re-infection in school epidemics.
Hair mousse works by suffocating the lice. Apply the mousse to the scalp and hair before bed, cover with a plastic hair bag. Shampoo in AM.
Since Head Lice do not survive off the body for more than two days, simply remove stuffed animals or blankets and store at room temp for two days away from human contact. You can launder linen in hot water and a hot drier to kill lice. No sprays or other precautions are needed or helpful.
Once the lice shampoo is used, consider the patient non-contagious and they can return to school or work. If the itch persists longer than two weeks or lice reappear, call your doctor.
Head Lice is caused by an insect called Pediculus Humanus Capitis. Now that school has started again, parents are starting to get those dreaded letters saying your child or classmate has lice. Lice can affect all kinds of people. Head Lice are not a health hazard and they are not responsible for spread of any known disease (other than panic, anxiety, or fear). They are not a sign of being unclean or poor hygiene.
Most of the things you will hear about Head Lice are myths.
Here are the FACTS OF LICE:
The word lice is plural of louse, a small insect. Lice are tiny and reddish brown and lay many eggs which hatch quickly in 6-10 days. The empty dead eggshell, called a nit remains attached to the hair shaft and grows with the hair at the rate of 1 cm per month. The nit is a whitish cylinder and is itself not contagious. It can not spread infection to anyone. However, many schools have a no nit policy because if you get rid of the nits, you presumably also got rid of the original infection. For cosmetic reasons, it is fine to remove the nits. A fine toothed comb works well to nit pick as does a vinegar:water (1:1) solution to rinse the hair after shampooing with the anti lice shampoo.
Head Lice can and do spread from person to person by head to head contact such as sleeping in the same bed and sharing hats. Once off the body, they die quickly, in one to two days. They need the warmth of the body to survive. This is why a cold winter kills them.
Treatment Options:
Anti-lice Shampoos that are over the counter, such as NIX. This product kills the lice and their eggs. There is a residue left on the scalp for 2 weeks which helps prevent re-infection in school epidemics.
Hair mousse works by suffocating the lice. Apply the mousse to the scalp and hair before bed, cover with a plastic hair bag. Shampoo in AM.
Since Head Lice do not survive off the body for more than two days, simply remove stuffed animals or blankets and store at room temp for two days away from human contact. You can launder linen in hot water and a hot drier to kill lice. No sprays or other precautions are needed or helpful.
Once the lice shampoo is used, consider the patient non-contagious and they can return to school or work. If the itch persists longer than two weeks or lice reappear, call your doctor.