The nit nurse is a thing of the past, so we’ve taken a fine toothcomb to the headlice facts (and our hair!)
It’s become something of an urban myth that the problem of headlice is on the rise, and forget the one about nits preferring clean hair – they don’t care whose hair they live in!
Ian Burgess, Director of the Medical Entomology Centre, told MFM, “Ever since there have been humans, there have been headlice and their presence hasn’t changed that much since the 1990s.”
Headlice are easily passed from head to head contact, so ignoring the (itchy) truth that children have headlice makes the problem worse. Approximately 10 – 20% of children have an infection at any one time.
Whenever kids are together, there’s a risk of nits being passed on. Girls are said to be worse for spreading the unwelcome visitors, because they spend more time with their heads close together and sharing hairbrushes.
Christine Brown, former school nurse and head lice advisor, says headlice infections often result in a blame game. “It’s not a school’s fault if there’s a headlice infection, but sometimes head teachers are naïve enough to think nits aren’t a problem in their school. It’s the same with parents.”
Christine says, “It’s the responsibility of the family to keep them [their family] lice free.”
Head lice are clever little parasites and have learnt to feed in a way that doesn’t cause as much irritation or itchiness, so looking out for scratching children isn’t enough unfortunately.
Christine’s key piece of advice is to check your child’s hair each week with a comb. She advises using a fine toothcomb with jagged teeth. "Make it less stressful by putting on their favourite programme, reading a book or having a chat in a comfortable position,” Christine advises.
And don’t forget to carry on in the school holidays – it’s yet another myth that headlice are only a problem during term-time.
Christine also advises getting to grips with the instructions on any treatment. If it says re-treat after 7 days, she says, make sure you do. “Parents think they know better and leave it on longer or split the treatment across two days, this won’t work.”
Headlice have become widely immune to pesticide treatments, so look for non-pesticide alternatives. Headlice treatment brand Hedrin boast clinical studies with a 100% success rate for non-pesticide treatments.
And don’t think you’ll get off scot-free, either. Angela Bresh, a Boots pharmacist, tells us, “You can easily catch head lice from your child and pass it on, too. They don’t care whose hair they're in!”
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