Head Lice OK at School?

FROM MSNBC: For generations, children with signs of head lice were summarily sent home by the school nurse to their everlasting shame. Now schools have become less nitpicky.
With the backing of some major health organizations, a majority of schools across the country are allowing youngsters to stay in class if they have nits — that is, lice eggs — but no crawling lice in their hair.


It’s a change recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Association of School Nurses, and it has been welcomed by many educators and parents, who worried that students were missing too much school, moms and dads were missing work, and children were being made to feel ashamed.


“Our children miss enough school without having to add this to it. The no-nit policies are as much a nuisance as the pests that we’re dealing with,” said Astrid Cruz, a mother of three from Palm Coast, Fla.

When Cruz’s daughter got lice in second grade and was removed from class under the school’s no-nit policy, Cruz had to beg administrators to let the girl ride the school bus home. They relented, but made the girl and her siblings ride alone — and the driver sprayed the seats down with Lysol afterward. When more nits were spotted, the girl had to miss school and go to work with Mom.


Other parents, like Debbie Cornell, want to see schools go back to taking a hard line against head lice. Cornell grew frustrated when her daughters each got head lice twice last school year. Their San Francisco private school lets kids with nits stay in class, a policy she blames for her daughters’ infestation.


“I wanted to go to the school wearing a T-shirt that said ‘Got Lice?’ and have rice in my hair,” she said. “I was like, ‘Come on, people, get with it!’ ” The U.S. has anywhere from 6 million to 12 million cases of head lice each year, though that is only a guesstimate, said Dr. Barbara Frankowski, a Vermont pediatrician who has studied the subject. It is not clear whether there have been more infestations in recent years as a result of the new, more relaxed policies.

The switch came after a 2002 pediatrics academy study said students with nits shouldn’t be kept out of class. The real problem, according to the medical experts, is the lice, not their eggs.
“Nits don’t spread. They don’t jump from one person to another,” said Amy Garcia, executive director of the National Association of School Nurses. “So to withhold a child from school due to nits really interrupts the educational process.”


Once nits hatch, they generally take 7 to 10 days to become full-grown adults that can lay eggs and begin the cycle all over again. About 60 percent of schools now allow children with nits to stay in class, Garcia said. The pediatrics academy also says that kids who are found to have crawling head lice should be allowed to stay in school for the rest of the day but discouraged from close head contact with others. But not many school districts have gone that far.

To be honest, I am surprised schools would even know if a child has nits. When do they have time to check a child's hair? Doesn't the itching coincide with the lice as opposed to the nits? Hmm.. I haven't had to deal with this yet, but it sounds like I will soon if more kids are going to be at school with nits. That being said, it is insane to think a parent could take an entire week off work because their child has head lice. What happens when there's a real emergency and you have no time off?


-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Vaccine Safety

I have had numerous moms write in to this website with concerns over vaccines. The American Academy of Pediatrics has strongly stated vaccines are generally safe for kids. Here's an email I just got:

"I saw this and it was interesting and raises some concerns. I am not one of those mother's that is dead set against vaccines and do vaccinate my kids ... but I was ill informed about the financial aspect of it. I thought you may find it interesting as well."

Here's the story on CBS:

They're some of the most trusted voices in the defense of vaccine safety: the American Academy of Pediatrics, Every Child By Two, and pediatrician Dr. Paul Offit. But CBS News has found these three have something more in common - strong financial ties to the industry whose products they promote and defend.

The vaccine industry gives millions to the Academy of Pediatrics for conferences, grants, medical education classes and even helped build their headquarters. The totals are kept secret, but public documents reveal bits and pieces. A $342,000 payment from Wyeth, maker of the pneumococcal vaccine - which makes $2 billion a year in sales.

A $433,000 contribution from Merck, the same year the academy endorsed Merck's HPV vaccine - which made $1.5 billion a year in sales. Another top donor: Sanofi Aventis, maker of 17 vaccines and a new five-in-one combo shot just added to the childhood vaccine schedule last month. Every Child By Two, a group that promotes early immunization for all children, admits the group takes money from the vaccine industry, too - but wouldn't tell us how much.

A spokesman told CBS News: "There are simply no conflicts to be unearthed." But guess who's listed as the group's treasurers? Officials from Wyeth and a paid advisor to big pharmaceutical clients. Then there's Paul Offit, perhaps the most widely-quoted defender of vaccine safety. He's gone so far as to say babies can tolerate "10,000 vaccines at once." This is how Offit described himself in a previous interview: "I'm the chief of infectious disease at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and a professor of pediatrics at Penn's medical school," he said.

Offit was not willing to be interviewed on this subject but like others in this CBS News investigation, he has strong industry ties. In fact, he's a vaccine industry insider. Offit holds in a $1.5 million dollar research chair at Children's Hospital, funded by Merck. He holds the patent on an anti-diarrhea vaccine he developed with Merck, Rotateq, which has prevented thousands of hospitalizations. And future royalties for the vaccine were just sold for $182 million cash. Dr. Offit's share of vaccine profits? Unknown.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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