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Head Lice: Tips for Parents and
Teachers
by Becky Sisk, PhD
If the children in your life get head lice ("Pediculosis humanus capitis"),
do not panic. Head lice can be prevented and cured. Just follow these
tips:
Tips
Head lice are transmitted among children when they share their hats and
combs. Teach children to never use anyone else's hat or comb. Head lice
are also transmitted through bedding. The lice crawl but do not jump
directly from one child to another.
A lice infestation is not a sign of poor hygiene. Children from every
socioeconomic level get head lice. They are most common in girls and
least common in African-Americans. When you become aware that a child
has head lice, do not embarrass them by making a big deal about the
problem.
When screening for head lice infestations, remember that female lice lay
their eggs, or "nits," in the hair. The nits adhere to the base of the
hair shaft and hatch within three days to two weeks. Look for the nits
along the nape of the neck and in the hairline behind the ears. You will
occasionally also find them in the eyelids or eyelashes.
To distinguish between nits and dandruff, remember that nits are oval in
shape, have smooth edges, and are grey in color. They are obvious to the
naked eye but get no larger than a sesame seed. Dandruff is irregular in
shape and does not adhere to the base of the hair.
Head lice feed off of human blood. Their activities cause intense
itching. Teach children not to scratch to prevent a secondary bacterial
skin infection.
When you suspect that a child has head lice, inspect the hair. Parents
should take responsibility for removing the nits and lice.
Removal
Brush the hair and divide it into sections.
Go through the hair, section by section, with a fine tooth "lice" comb,
which is available at the drugstore. Use a strong light.
Look for the nits at the nape of the neck and behind the ears. They
adhere to the shaft of the hair. Comb out the nits and lice and discard
them by wrapping them tightly in several layers of newspaper or in a
plastic bag that can be closed tightly.
Lice live about 30 days on the human body and lay about 100 eggs in a
lifetime. By the time a parent finds lice on a child's head, the lice
are probably also in pillows and carpets in the child's environment.
Vacuum all pillows and carpets with which the child has contact. Wash
all bedding with detergent and hot water. Set your dryer on "hot."
Prevention
Regular inspections of children's heads for nits. ~ Preventing children
from sharing hats and combs. ~ Keeping children's hair brushes and combs
clean.
Hanging each child's coat separate from the others with hats tucked down
into sleeves.
The use of chemical preparations to kill the nits and lice ("pediculicides")
is controversial. The most common preparation, lindane, kills the lice
by destroying their nervous systems. The National Pediculosis
Association (NPA) recommends removal of lice with a fine-toothed comb
rather than using chemical preparations. Consult their website,
http://www.headlice.org, for further information.
Important Note: Parents should consult their child's pediatrician or
pediatric nurse practitioner about whether to use lindane or other
preparations. This article is for information use only and should not be
construed as medical advice. Information for the article was taken from
the Merck Manual Online and from
http://www.headlice.org.
About the author
Becky Sisk is the owner and webmaster of "NurseScribe,"
http://eNurseScribe.com. For free articles on medical topics, go to
http://www.eNurseScribe.com/medarts.htm
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