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Head Lice

Head Lice. September, 2007. What are head lice ?. Head lice ( Pediculus capitis ) are small insects that can live on the scalp and neck hair of a human host They must have the warmth of the human body and the blood on the scalp to survive.

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Head Lice

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  1. Head Lice September, 2007

  2. What are head lice ? • Head lice (Pediculus capitis) are small insects that can live on the scalp and neck hair of a human host • They must have the warmth of the human body and the blood on the scalp to survive. • Approximately 6 to 12 million children are infected with Head Lice per year (AAP) • Head lice are not a health hazard or a sign of uncleanliness and are NOT responsible for the spread of ANY diseases • All groups of people can develop Head lice

  3. Head Lice: • Lice likely co-evolved with people; claws are well adapted to grasping the hair shaft their claws prevent them from jumping (Pollack 2000, CDC, 2004) • Lice don’t have wings so they can’t fly.(Pollack 2000, CDC, 2004) • Lice are host specific parasites they don’t live on other animals. • Lice must feed off scalp, so they die within 24 hours of separation from human hosts or they lose viability ( CDC, 2004 and AAP, 2002) • if they have fallen off hair, they are at the end of the life cycle and lose viability quickly (AAP, 2002)

  4. If there is itching are there live lice? • When lice bite the scalp they inject a bit of saliva while they suck the blood. • The saliva is what begins the inflammation that causes the itching if there is itching then lice have been there for at least a month • Most times lice are not detected for a month or more because the inflammation takes that long to happen • No live lice have to be present to have the itching response • A person can still have the itching after an effective treatment has killed the viable lice

  5. Do I have head lice? • Conditioner and combing is the only proven reliable way of detecting live head lice. • Eggs may be easier to see, but are only important if they are found within 1.5cm from the scalp. (CDC 2006, AAP 2004) • The Nits that are greater distances from the scalp are either empty or not viable (CDC 2006, Pollack 2000, AAP 2004)

  6. How do head lice move from one headto another? • Head lice are like trapeze artists - they swing from • hair to hair using their strong claws. • Head lice need very close head-to-head contact to spread • from one person to another. • Electrostatic charge from combing dry hair can fling • head lice up to 1 meter. • Only the young lice and adult lice can move from one • head to another • the nits do not move from head to head

  7. AAP reported on a study: • Head lice and nits are frequently misdiagnosed by school staff and parents • Screening for nits alone is not an accurate way of predicting which children will become infested (AAP) • Screening for live lice has not been proven to work in schools nor does it significantly effect the incidence of head lice in a school community over time (AAP)

  8. AAP recommendations from the Committee on School Health 2001-2002 • Only students with live lice should be considered a “lice case” • No nit policies should be discouraged • This decision was scientific evidenced based.

  9. Harvard Scheme for Managing Presumed Head Louse Infestations in Schools UNJUSTIFIED RESPONSES TO LIVE LICE • Exclusion or quarantine • Notification of classmates parents • Classroom or schoolwide screenings • Insecticide treatments to the school environment • Bagging of clothes, toys, etc. • Vacuuming; boiling linens; laundering all linens • Restricting use of headphones, equipment (helmets) • Reporting to CPS in absence of other indicators

  10. Harvard School of Public Health and Australian Queensland Public Health have researched Lice in Schools and have found: Excluding children from school with lice does not affect the total number of cases each year. (AAP 2002) Education of families on how to prevent and treat lice does affect the numbers in school (AAP 2002)

  11. Resources • NASN pediculosis position statement http://www.nasn.org/Default.aspx?tabid=237 • AAP policy on head lice http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;110/3/638 • Harvard School of Public Health http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/headlice.html • CDC http://www.dpd.cdc.gov/dpdx/HTML/HeadLice.asp?body=Frames/G-L/HeadLice/body_HeadLice_page1.htm

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