Your Childrens Health

Most parents will have a head lice scare at some point or another.  Considering how quickly lice can spread through a daycare or grade school, it’s not surprising that more than 10% of school-age children will become infested at some point. 

If your child has developed an itchy scalp, or you have been notified that children in their class have lice, you should perform a thorough check for lice and nits.  Nits are tiny eggs that are attached to the shaft of the hair, near the scalp.  They are visible to the naked eye, and easier to detect than lice who may scurry away from the bright light.

If you have more than one child to check, you should use separate wooden sticks or nit-combs for each examination.  Using rubber gloves is a good idea in theory, but they must be changed after each examination to prevent the spread of other skin infections such as impetigo.  Natural light is actually more effective than fluorescents, so try to perform the exam in a well lit room. 

Have your child sit in the light, and gently separate their hair in sections.  Search carefully for tiny, white eggs very close to the scalp.  If you pull out a hair with a nit on it, the nit will come with the hair.  If nits are found, the child needs to be treated for head lice.  The rest of the family should also be examined.  Head lice cannot live without human blood, so if the entire family is treated thoroughly the problem should not recur.  This doesn’t prevent infestation at school, though.

Some school communities organize regular parent-volunteer head lice checks.  If your child’s school does not perform regular checks, consider organizing a bi-weekly exam with other parents.  Most school administrators would be happy to have head lice under control, with preventative measures being taken.  Children found to have head lice during a routine check would be sent home for treatment.

Female lice lay between three to five eggs per day.  Within a few days of infestation, you will be able to see nits in your childs hair.  Although lice cannot live more than 24 hours off of the host child, most children return to the same place every day and will continue to resist treatment unless all areas are disinfected.  Whether you decide to use a chemical treatment, or to use a nitcomb to remove lice and nits, it’s a good idea to treat your child’s clothing and toys.  Hard toys should be wiped with a damp cloth; thoroughly vacuum all carpeted areas and furniture; bag toys, bedding and clothing for several days or place in the dryer for 30 minutes. 

Frequent checks, community awareness and prompt treatment can all help to prevent the next outbreak of head lice.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, March 2nd, 2006 at 2:02 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.