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

Treatment for Head Lice

I recently got an email from a concerned mom who said there are too many differing views on how to treat head lice. This is a post I will be printing off and keeping. It took awhile, but I did find someone who specializes in this topic. Here's the original email:

Jen,

Our family recently dealt with head lice. It was horrifying to say the least. I would like to see more consistent and reliable information put out there. I found so many conflicting things such as you should treat every member of the household while other things I read said only treat the infected persons.

There were conflicting things said regarding lice killing spray for bedding and furniture (some said you must use other said absolutely do NOT use). There were also conflicting things regarding removal of the “eggs or nits.” I also read things on different Internet sites about the lice killing shampoo actually causing death in children because they contain pesticides. I believe they were referring to the prescription strength but even so they stated the off the shelf could be extremely harmful as well.

There is a new treatment off the shelf that says it is pesticide free it’s called Lice MD. I do not know however if it works. I even went to the Tazewell County Health Department to confirm that I no longer had them myself and was given hand outs that contained conflicting information!!!!!!!!!

Could you please provide information regarding this issue so other Mom’s don’t have to go through what I went through with all the confusion and frustration. This has really caused a GREAT DEAL OF STRESS!!!!!! I hope we never have to go through this again but if we do I would like to know the real facts!!!!!

With school beginning again this is the perfect time to address this issue.

Thanks,

Emotionally drained Mom

This mom is right, there are a lot of opinions on head lice. It's up to each parent to decide who they think is a credible source for information on how to treat it. I did find Dermatologist Dr. Craig Burkhart in Ohio to be considered an expert on this topic. Here's what he recommends:

Treatment: "Not everybody treats it the same. The top treatment is a prescription-OVID. There is another product coming out soon, but it has not been FDA approved," said Dr. Burkhart.

1. Treat the Nits: Dr. Burkhart recommends using warm vinegar (not scalding hot) to help loosen the nits. He said, "Nits are the eggs of head lice and are laid approximately 1 cm from the scalp on the hair itself. Unlike dandruff, nits stay tightly affixed to the hair. As the hair grows, the nit remains attached to the hair-even after the nit has hatched." He says a fine toothed combed is necessary to assist in nit removal. In difficult cases, he recommends the Licemeister comb sold by the National Pediculosis Society (1-800-542-3634.) It is also sold at some K-Mart stores.

2. Treat the Head Lice: Dr. Burkhart recommends the prescription product Ovide lotion applied on Day 1 and Day 8 to all family members. He says over the counter products like Nix and Rid are no longer reliably successful in treatment.

• Apply the treatment to dry hair without using any water to dilute the product.
• Fully saturate the hair with the treatment so all the hair is matted to the scalp.
• Cover the scalp if possible with a shower cap.
• Leave the product in the hair overnight.
• Following the treatment, wash your hair with normal shampoo.
• Repeat this process in one week.

He says unless someone trained in detecting looks at the entire family and determines who is and is not infected, all family members should be treated at the same time. If there are other people who are in close contact with the family like grandparents, they should be treated too.

3. Clean the House: Dr. Burkhart says to wash all items that may have come in contact with the nits because lice can live off the scalp for about two days and nits can live up to 10 days! Lice may lay more eggs than what can fit on one scalp, so they tend to move to furniture, or the backs of car seats or the inside of hats, in hopes of finding a new host soon. (Does your scalp itch yet? Mine does thinking about this!)

• Thoroughly wash: combs, brushes, pillowslips, bed sheets and clothes worn over the last two days in very hot water.


• Thoroughly vacuum the house and car, especially the furniture.


• Don't lean against a cloth sofa for at least three days.

Dr. Burkhart says there is no reason to fumigate the home or spray insecticides.

What are head lice?:

Head lice are wingless insects that can neither jump nor fly. They are 1/8 of an inch in length and are about the side of a sesame seed. They have claws that allow them to move quickly along the hairs and they get their meals by sucking blood in a fashion similar to how mosquitoes deed. Human lice cannot live on other animals.

What about natural remedies for head lice?: Dr. Burkhart said, "What isn't a chemical?
Some of the natural remedies have chemicals which I have reported are not as safe as the insecticides we presently employ....and no, I do not recommend any natural remedies."

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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