Kids and Health Care: Lice
Lice are parasitic insects that can cause itching and scratching, especially on areas of the body that are covered with hair -- typically the scalp, neck and behind the ears. Six to 12 million people are infested with lice each year.
The common head louse, Pediculus humanus capitus, is very small (less than 4 millimeters long) but you can see it if you look carefully. It lives among human hairs, draws blood from the skin (although the amount drawn is almost too little to measure) and lays its eggs (also called "nits") on hair shafts, close to the skin surface, where the temperature is good for incubation. A louse has tiny claws on its legs that are well-adapted for clinging on to strands of hair or clothing. Its bites may cause inflammation and itching; and they can become infected.
If your child's hair is infested, you might be able to see the nits, which look like white grains of sand attached to the hair shafts. It is more common to see nits in a child's hair than it is to see live lice crawling on the scalp.
Head lice are sometimes considered a sign of poor personal hygiene -- but, in fact, infestations have little to do with cleanliness. Lice are highly contagious. Although they don't fly in the air or walk on the ground, they can pass from person to person on clothing, bed linens, combs, brushes and hats. Children and young teens are most prone to catching lice because they are most likely to share such personal items and because they are often in close physical contact with other infected children.
Most schools and daycare centers have a standard notice on-hand and circulate it among parents when teachers or staff discover a lice infestation.
Medicated shampoos, creams and lotions -- available without prescription -- can end a lice infestation right away, but it may take about 5 days for the itching to stop. And most skin doctors suggest repeating the medicated treatment about a week after the first treatment -- just to be sure you've killed all of the bugs.
Your children (and you) can minimize the chances of being infested by head lice by taking the following common-sense precautions:
- avoid physical contact with a person who has lice;
- do not share combs, brushes, hats, scarves, ribbons or other personal items;
- examine and treat members of your household who've had close contact with a person infected with lice;
- buy a fine-toothed comb (specially designed ones are often sold in combination with lice-killing shampoo) and comb your kids' hair, looking for nits;
- if your kids' school or daycare center sends home a note about lice, have some medicated shampoo at home -- just in case your kids start scratching.
Although not usually necessary, washing clothing and bed linens in very hot water putting them in airtight bags for 10 days can help kill the lice and their eggs. Hair-care items, like combs and brushes, can either be soaked in hot water or medicated shampoo or thrown away. Because lice infestations are easily passed from person to person in the same house, your family members may need treatment for lice infestation to prevent lice from coming back. Lice are not dangerous, but they can be annoying.
