Archive for the 'head lice outbreak' Category

Summer Camp Lice Prevention

headlice July 29th, 2008

There is a widespread lice problem in summer camps this Summer. Licenders has provided screenings to prevent lice in overnight camps in the mountains of New York, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. When a child arrives at camp with head lice, the result can be a massive lice epidemic. Lice are notoriously catchy. The camp environment, with kids and adults interacting so closely, increases the opportunities for the lice nits to transfer from one head to another. Lice can easily spread to hundreds of campers in such conditions. For camp staff and administrators, a lice epidemic is a nightmare!

The way to approach this headlice threat correctly, is lice prevention. Licenders recommends that everyone who comes up to camp be screened for lice nits right away. If the lice checking can be done before the kids participate in any activities, this is ideal. The idea is, to find anyone with a lice problem, and treat the lice before they have a chance to spread to anyone else. Effective lice treatment, including proper lice combing can be provided to individual head lice cases immediately. Passing up this intial time for lice checking can result in a significant interruption of camp. Hundreds of kids could ultimately need to be treated because of a few isolated cases of untreated head lice.

In addition, licenders provides a lice nits re-check after a change in camp session, as new campers may again introduce lice into the summer camp population. If there is a significant opportunity for campers to interact closely with outsiders, another lice check is highly advised. This would apply after a camp visiting day, when parents and siblings come in contact with their loved ones, possibly bringing undetected lice bugs and nit eggs along with them.

Sports Headgear and Lice Prevention

headlice May 21st, 2008

Recently, more adults involved in activities for children are recognizing that they can make a difference in the prevention of head lice. On April 27, 2008, an article appeared in the New York Times health section addressing the likelihood of a head lice outbreak among healthy, active children. The author, Juli S. Charkes relates how a local litte league coach, in advising his team of the rules and regulations of the season, also advised them to purhase personal batting helmets. His reason: to prevent head lice!

Normally, a couple of helmets suffice for the group, as they are passed on to the team members when it is their turn at bat. The article quotes a number of child care professionals in and around the town of Dobbs Ferry who agreed with the concerns of coach Robert Birnbaum, regarding a head lice outbreak.

“ 'As a coach, I would not want to be responsible for the spread of lice,' [Mr. Robert Birnbaum] said outside his home," which in Westchester, New York. 

It turns out, that this advice was well received by other child care professionals in and around Dobbs Ferry, the town in Westchester that is home to this particular little league.

" 'I think individual helmets make sense not only for [human head lice], but also just in terms of basic hygiene,' said Ellen M. Whalen, a Yonkers pediatrician who watched her 6-year-old son Nico, clad in his own shiny red helmet, hit a ball off the tee."

The Times' continues, "As the Little League administrator for District 21, which includes Yonkers, Mount Vernon, Pelham and New Rochelle, Michael Mattesi overseas about 400 teams. He said he had been contacted many times by schools in his district when there is an outbreak of head lice and has encouraged the use of individual helmets, as well as the use of baseball caps under any shared helmet."

" 'Absolutely, it just makes a lot of sense,' he said. 'These helmets are affordable — often less than $20 — and I encourage parents to invest in one.' ”

(to be continued)

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

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.