No child is immune
Each year, there is a creature that attacks millions of children every year, biting them and sucking their blood. That creature is the head louse.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that head lice infestations are most common among preschool- and elementary-school-age children and the members of the households in which they reside. The CDC also states head lice are not known to transmit disease, but secondary bacterial infection of the skin from scratching the bites may occur.
Dr. Amanda B. Kampert is coowner and supervising pediatrician of Progressive Children’s Clinic in Shreveport. Kampert said, “They are actually a type of insect and are considered parasites in that they feed on human blood to survive. One of these types is commonly known as head lice [Pediculus humanus capitis]. Head lice move by crawling and are spread by direct contact with the hair of a person who has head lice. They cannot hop or fly and are not spread by dogs, cats or other pets. Head lice are most common among preschooland elementary school-age children. It is estimated that six to 12 million infestations occur each year in the United States among children 3 to 11 years of age.”
Kampert said, “School-age children and their household contacts and caretakers are at higher risk of getting head lice. This is because the most common way to get head lice is by head-to-head contact with a person who already has it. Such contact can be common among children during play at school, home, playgrounds, sports, camps and slumber parties.”
Kampert said, “Symptoms of head lice may not be present, especially if it is a child’s first infestation or if the infestation is very light. Itching caused by an allergic reaction to the bite of the louse is the most common symptom of an infestation. It can take up to four to six weeks for itching to appear if it is the first time a person has had head lice. Other symptoms may include a tickling feeling or a sensation of something moving in the hair, irritability and sleeplessness, and sores on the head caused by scratching. These sores caused by scratching can sometimes become infected with bacteria normally found on a person’s skin.”
Dr. Labo Desalu is also a pediatrician at Progressive Children’s Clinic. Desalu said, “It is scary or worrisome to know that children may be infested with lice for days without any kind of symptoms. If there is an outbreak in school or in the home, the best thing to look for to confirm there is an infestation is to inspect the scalp and hair. This can be done by “wet combing.” This involves systematic combing of the entire hair with a nit comb, which can be bought in the stores.
Desalu said, “The confirmed and consistent way by which a child can get head lice is by direct contact [hair to hair] as lice do not jump or fly. The adult louse does not live longer than two days without being on a human. The role of hats, combs, coats, towels and bedding/pillows have been implicated, but it is not as significant as in direct contact.
“Prevention can occur if an individual is noted to be infested with lice; all persons in direct head-to-head contact should be examined and treated if needed. At school, the importance of assigning individual lockers, cubicles or hooks can be helpful to prevent the spread in the event of an outbreak. The diagnosis of lice infestation is when there is visualization of live lice. This is better done with the wet combing versus direct inspection of the scalp and hair. The presence of nits [the eggs of the louse] may not indicate an infestation.”
Desalu said, “The treatment of lice infestation has varied over the years. There has been drastic moves such as shaving the hair, which can be emotionally traumatic. The easiest and most common form of treatment is the application of local pediculicides [a specially formulated louse pesticide]. The choice of the pediculicide to use will depend on the resistance history in the community, the side effects and age of the patient. Most of them can be applied multiple times over weeks. The goal is to get the hair free of live lice. It is recommended to treat for two weeks after the last live louse is discovered. If there are any reasons why the pediculicides cannot be used, the process of wet combing carried out over weeks until all live lice are gone.”
– Michael Stone
