Archive for the 'head lice facts' Category

Head Lice Art???

headlice August 19th, 2008

Strange but true! A Reuter's news item dated Wednesday, April 30, 2008, reported on a group of seven Germans who believe that head lice can be a form of art!

"Art is no longer just a painting on the wall," Milana Gitzin-Adiram, chief curator of the Museum of Bat Yam near Tel Aviv, told Reuters. "Art is life, life is art." What that has to do with head lice? It's not really clear at all!

The group of Berliners were living at the  Museum of Bat Yam near Tel Aviv, as part of an unusual art exhibit. They ate, slept, and bathed in a gallery, while maintaining active lice infestations in their hair. "The idea is that we live in the museum as their guests, and at the same time we are hosting lice on our heads," said artist Vincent Grunwald, aged 23. He was wearing a plastic shower cap to prevent the lice from spreading.

From a professional lice removal perspective… this is just plain silly. Head lice are parasites that live off human blood. Lice cause terrible itching, from the irritation that results when a louse bites its host to suck blood. Lice can not live off of a human head. Lice can not fly. Lice do not jump. Lice aren't interested in living any place other than a human head.  The only way that lice spread — which they do quickly — is by crawling from one head to another. Since these folks are apparently all lice infested already, they aren't preventing anything with that shower cap! Lice are small enough to crawl easily crawl under the edges of a shower cap, anyway. Actually, lice nits they are so tiny, that they aren't visible without very close and careful inspection. Which would make head lice irrelevant as hosts on human heads in an art gallery. The only thing a visitor would be able to see, are men in shower caps, possibly scratching their heads.

With all the stress that surrounds a head lice infestation, the absurd idea that there is an artistic element to lice could invite a much-needed momentary lightness!

Lice Prevention After Camp

headlice August 18th, 2008

Now is the time to be on guard for head lice!

When your kids come home from Summer camp, they may bring home more than dirty laundry and memories that last a lifetime. Head lice are so common these days, that the chance that your child was exposed in summer camp is quite high. Many camps do check for lice at the beginning of the Summer. However, in many situations, the treatment applied is a chemical lice shampoo.

Chemical lice products have a number of problems. Lice have become resistant to chemicals. Therefore, many lice treatments are not working. In addition, the chemicals have been known to actually harden the nits (lice eggs). This makes nit removal even more difficult than it already is. In order to completely get rid of lice every single nit has to be removed. Nits are tiny… the size of a grain of sand! If all the nits are not removed, a nit will continue to grow on the hair shaft, for a period of 7-10 days. At that point, a nymph (baby louse) will hatch, and within 7-10 days will be mature enough to lay additional nits! At this point, a child who was treated for lice in fact  be completely reinfested — and even worse infesting his friends and bunkmates.

Head lice is not a cleanliness issue. But lice are hearty, persistent bugs, and they will continue to live on human hosts unless they are treated effectively. Lice feed by biting the head, leaving irritation which causes terrible itching.

When your child comes home from camp, do yourself a favor, and take the time to do a lice nits check - before there is a possibility of his sharing lice or nits with his siblings — or parents! Yes, adults do get head lice. Lice prevention is the best way to stay in control.

Lice Information from a Pediatrician (continued)

headlice June 5th, 2008

"Dr. Hook" a.k.a Dr. John Hong of Charlottesville, Virginia is a reknowned pediatrician who writes medical articles for THE HOOK, a local newspaper. Here is the continuation of his article about head lice, published on 5/15/08, and posted with permission from the author.

 

Continued from yesterday's LICENDERS post, Lice Information from a Pediatrician

 

Adult [female lice] are about 3-4mm in length, live about a month, and lay 10 eggs (nits) a day that stick to the bases of hair shafts. The eggs hatch in eight days, and the nymphs mature in eight days. (The crazy ones are called nymphomaniacs– or not.)

 

These creepy crawlers suck blood from the scalp, eyebrows, and other hairy places on the head and neck. The bites can cause an allergic reaction, like a mosquito bite, leading to itchy bumps. Scratching the bumps can lead to bacterial infections.

 

The white nits are easier to spot than the mobile lice. If you catch a louse, you might put it in a ziplock bag for the doctor to view under a microscope.

 

Nits are truly nit-wits because they stick to the hair even after hatching or treatment for lice. So a fine-toothed nit comb is used to wipe them away. Topical medicines like permethrin (Nix), pyrethrin (Rid, A-200, Pronto, Clear), and malathion can be used. A second treatment might be needed a week or two later.

 

to be continued

 

© Dr. John Hong, Inc

 

 

Lice Information from a Pediatrician

headlice June 4th, 2008

This article appeared on THE HOOK, the web site of a Charlottesville, Virginia Newspaper by the same name. It is posted here with permission from the author, Dr. John Hong, a reknowned physician with a local pediatric practice in Charlottesville.

  

DR. HOOK- Nit picking: Pediculosis can louse up a day
 

by JOHN HONG, MD
published 5/15/2008 12:00:00 AM

"I'm hairy noon and night. Hair that's a fright. I'm hairy high and low. Don't ask me why. Don't know" (Hair, the musical).

 

At my school, Denison University, when we produced Hair, they actually had a nude scene, though the lights were spinning all over the place, and I could tell a bum bum from a tum tum. But there was a lot of hair! What if some of it had lice?

 

Don't laugh! When I saw a different musical, Naked Men Singing, one guy had a fungal infection, tinea versicolor, and another was recovering from shingles. I almost jumped up on the stage to apply creams. Yikes!

 

Pediculosis is the medical term for lice, and there are three types: pediculosis humanus capitus (head lice), pediculosis corporis (body lice), and phthirus pubis (pubic lice, aka "crabs"– or in royal circles King Crabs– hmm). 

 

Head lice are most common in kiddies, and in fact lice is the #2 communicable disease in North American elementary school students! In 1997, one in four had head lice at some point. The louse doesn't jump or fly, so it's contracted by direct contact between folks– through sharing clothes, hats, combs, headphones, beds, towels, etc.
 
Even hanging jackets besides each other in the classroom can spread lice, because the louse can survive away from a human body for 55 hours.

 

To Be Continued

 

 

© Dr. John Hong, Inc

 

 

No Nit Policies in Schools (part 2)

headlice May 5th, 2008

continued from No Nit Policy: School Lice Infestation (part 1)

Another problem with lice in school environments, is that kids bring jackets, hats, scarves, and other accessories to school, and remove them. Often, those items come in contact with each other, in a communal pile, or designated coat area. Children often try on their friends' accessories as part of their playful interaction. A human hair louse can rarely survive off of a human host for more than a day. However, when accessories are shared among kids, there is ample time for a live lice bug on a clothing item to transfer onto another head.

These situations arise multiple times with the same children. If one child has an active lice infestation, there are numerous opportunities for this child to infest the children with whom she interacts daily.

A no-nit policy should have parameters. A child being actively treated for lice should not be made to miss school unnecessarily. School nurses and administrations need to know the facts about head lice treatment to properly apply the no-nit policy.

to be continued

The Nature of Head Lice: How a Lice Infestation Spreads

headlice April 7th, 2008

continued from Do Head Lice Jump?

Biologically, Head Lice do not jump. Rather, they crawl very quickly from one head to another. Considering this fact about head lice, one may wonder how it is lice nits spread so quickly. Some people mistakenly think that one bug alone can not cause a head lice infestation. The truth is, it only takes one mature louse to begin a rapid lice infestation on the new host!

Like most live creatures, a louse egg must be fertilized in order to produce additional lice bugs.  Mature female lice only need one fertilization to produce fertilized eggs for the rest of their life - approximately 30 days. An adult male louse will mate several times in its lifetime, fertilizing numerous females. Therefore almost all mature female lice have mated, and are ready and able to start infesting the hair with nits, at an average of 6 nit eggs per day.

Chances are that a mature louse that crawls on to a new head is in fact fertilized and ready to lay more than 150 nits in the hair over the next few weeks. It doesn't take much to spread a lice infestation.

Do Head Lice Jump?

headlice March 27th, 2008

In order to "catch lice", a live bug must transfer from one head to another. Human head lice crawl incredibly quickly, and that is the only way they transfer from head to head. Lice do not have legs biologically capable of jumping. If someone shows you a louse "jumping", it is either not a human head louse, or it is actually trying to crawl, and somehow is falling, perhaps because it is dying, or because the louse is trying to crawl up the inside of a jar! Lice may twitch for a few seconds while they are dying, and this can be mistaken for  jumping lice. HAIR LICE don't JUMP!

Considering that head lice don't jump, how to they spread so fast?? Amazingly lice crawl very quickly, from one head to another. It really only takes one or two head lice to infest another person. Children spread lice more quickly, because in the course of their play, they give the lice more opportunities to crawl from one head to another. This can happen when sharing a secret, wrestling, and hugging. Any head to head contact gives the louse a chance to transfer. Until you look under a magnifying glass, it's hard to believe how quickly head lice crawl.

To Be Continued

Head Lice Outbreak in the Neighborhood

headlice March 18th, 2008

According to an article that appeared last week on Thisweek Online, there has been a major outbreak of headlice in three schools in the southern Twin Cities area in Minnesota. Over 150 cases of head lice were found in those 3 schools.

The schools include Pinewood Elementary School, Dakota Middle School, and Eagan High School. According to the news article, reported by Andrew Miller, each school has been taking appropriate measures to eradicate the lice problem.

The article qoutes a nurse, Sally Cole, who makes a very good point regarding the reason that this head lice nit outbreak would affect three separate schools in one neighborhood:

" 'Pinewood feeds into Dakota Hills Middle School and Eagan High School, and it’s likely that Pinewood students passed the lice to their siblings attending the middle school and high school', Cole said.

[A school district communications specialist] underscored that the school facilities themselves aren’t the source of the lice. In fact, pinning down the origin of the virtual deluge of head-lice cases in [the affected school district] may not be possible. 'It’s very difficult to tell because you can pick lice up anyplace,” Cole said.' "

Accurate information about lice is very important when it comes to dealing with a lice outbreak in a school. Head lice information and facts help the parents understand the situation better. Without lice nit information, parents tend to believe all sorts of rumors about Lice and Nits. Blame for the lice and nits gets thrown around, which is not useful for removing the lice problem. When head lice information is presented in a matter-of-fact way, parents are less likely to deny the problem, and more likely to responsibly treat their infested children, removing lice and nits.

That is the key to treating a school head lice infestation.

Nitpickers? Professional Lice Removal

headlice March 11th, 2008

Previously, we referred to a New York Daily News article about head lice. The article included a quote that could potentially promote the misconception that human head lice are connected in some way to race, color, culture, or in this case even religion. When it comes to hair lice information, nothing could be further than the truth!

There are additional statements in the above mentioned article that warrant comment:

The article repeatedly uses the term, nitpickers, to describe the featured women who are in the business of removal and treatment of lice. By definition, the term nitpicker has a negative connotation. It arouses an image of someone who is annoying.  A nitpicker sounds like someone who you don't want to be around; someone likely to subject you to harassment.  There is so much negativity already associated with human head lice. Mothers who find themselves in the middle of a lice infestation are already feeling overwhelmed. Infested children are often ostracized for no good reason. Parents feel embarrassed, based on the erroneous belief that the lice nit infestation is a reflection on their standards of cleanliness and personal hygiene. Children and parents alike may be worn out from repeated use of chemical lice shampoos, and ineffective lice nit combs. 
 
When clients call Licenders lice removal service, they are often in crisis mode. They need compassion, support and reassurance - along with professionalism.  It is important to avoid the use of negative or stereotypical terminology. By using an objective, deliberate approach, Licenders reduces the level of distress during a lice infestation. Licenders' caring staff provide methodical combing of lice and nits, using effective lice treatment products, including special lighting and magnifying equipment. Combined with our experience and expertise, Licenders maintains a professional attitude toward the treatment of head lice. Licenders unparalleled professionalism helps parents regain a sense of control and normalcy.

Nitpickers and Lice Removal Services

headlice March 10th, 2008

Recently, a human interest news item was devoted to lice removal services. The article, appeared in the New York Daily News on January 29th 2008. In her article, titled They're In the Lice-Removal Business, Rachel Monahan, discusses a supposed cultural trend in head lice treatment services. Her focus is on some women who have become lice removal experts in Brooklyn, New York. The tone of the article about lice removal warrants some comment.

One of these women describes herself as an "Orthodox Jewish nitpicker", and even goes so far, as to make a connection to the area of a nitpicking housewife. "They say Jewish men make good husbands; Jewish women are known to be nitpickers." Even in jest, such a statement is demeaning - and less than professional. Even a self-directed insult can result in uninformed, negative stereotyping. The fact is, human head lice are an international problem. The lice problem is prevalent in every culture, race and nationality. Religion is certainly not a factor. Any person who invests time and researches solutions, can become quite knowledgeable about lice nits and the best method of removing a lice infestation.

Furthermore, we take issue with the term "nitpickers" altogether!

to be continued

 

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