Child Head Louse – How Can Head Lice Be Beat?

As sure as fresh footwear and backpacks are part of the new school year, so follows the child head louse. Of the estimated 25 million infiltrations each year, head lice in children comprises the majority of cases, particularly for children age twelve and under. Being infected with the head lice, or ‘cooties’ in kid-speak, does not mean that a child’s head is dirty. To the contrary, the head louse prefers clean scalps.

Because lice cannot fly, they rely on direct contact to move from host to host. In the case of children, this is usually due to sharing personal items or storing personal items in a confined area, such as a coat closet or locker, where contact is inevitable.

Common Items susceptible to transferring lice among children include:

Hats
Hooded sweatshirts
Headphones
Scarves
Head Bands
Hair Brushes
Hair Accessories
Jackets
Stuffed Toys
Batting Helmets
Bike Helmets

The child head louse poses no serious health treat to the child, with the most common symptom being redness and itching of the scalp. Head lice will not transmit viruses or other types of contagious diseases from host to host. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, “ The greatest harm ...results from the well-intentioned but misguided use of caustic or toxic substances to eliminate the lice.” Scratching frequency and effort should however be monitored, as excessive scratching due to the child head louse could lead to minor infections if scratching should penetrate the skins surface.

Prompt treatment will help prevent lice from spreading to other family members or students. Treatment for destruction and removal of the head lice includes using louse treatment products especially formulated to kill the child head louse, and manual removal of louse eggs and nits.

Re-infestation can also be prevented by using Nix lice treatment products, which protect the hair shafts up to 14 days after the initial application. Nix headlice products are recognized by the U.S. Government as being “the most effective of the chemical treatments”*. Nix is recommended for killing lice and their eggs by healthcare professionals nationwide.

* http://www.metrokc.gov/health/prevcont/headlice.htm

Removal of eggs and nits from the child's scalp is an important part of the treatment process. While the special lice treatment will eliminate the nymphs that come from the eggs as well as the adult louse itself, many schools have a “No Nit” policy. A nit is the empty egg of the child head louse, and while harmless, school nurses will not allow a child who has been treated for head lice back into the school until all nits from the child have been removed.

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