middot; First thing is don’t panic. Lice are a nuisance and have been stigmatized; they are NOT a serious medical problem.

By contact with an already infested person. Contact is common during play, at school, and at home (slumber parties, sports activities, on a playground). Headlice are highly adapted to live on the hair and scalp of humans. However, although the human scalp can provide them with feed for life, headlice are vulnerable to inbreeding. So, because outbreeding is a requirement for survival, this appears to be the reason for the strong urge to disperse onto other heads.

Head scratching, alone, is not an indication for headlice treatment, or re-treatment in the absence of live lice or eggs. However, as it is sometimes difficult to detect nymphs and newly laid eggs, and because no product kills all eggs, second treatments are routinely recommended. Head scratching soon after treatment could be due to itching of (a) sores caused by previous scratching, or (b) a temporary allergic reaction to headlice bites.

One simple way to check for lice is to have the person hold their head over a light-colored towel. Then, brush the hair and scalp vigorously towards the towel. Dislodged lice will be found on the towel. Because infested people usually have few lice, you can easily miss finding them. It is important that you carefully and thoroughly inspect the person's head, particularly the back of their neck and around their ears.

No. Headlice resistance to treatments is encouraged by people trying to prevent infestation by prophylactic (preventive) use of anti-headlice products. Treat only if crawling lice, or nits (eggs) are seen within 5-10 mm of the scalp. However, anyone living with an infested person can get head lice. So, check people in the household for lice and nits every 2-3 days.

Once your child has been treated with a product specifically made to kill lice, and the hair has been mechanically combed with a nit comb to remove lice and nits (eggs), your child may return to school. Clinic staff will inspect the child’s head to ensure the treatment has been administered properly. To prevent re-infestation, your child should be retreated in 7 days. The clinic staff will recheck your child in 7-10 days for return of head lice.

Check regularly for head lice Nj don't rely on your child scratching as evidence that he/she has head lice BECAUSE SOME CHILDREN DON'T ITCH!

Lice are small, wingless, grayish-white insects with flattened, elongate bodies and somewhat oval heads. They are about 1/16 to 1/8 inch long.

Yes, head lice are very easily transmitted from one family member to another. Not everyone will show signs of an infestation and thus all members should be treated at the same time. Likewise all bed linen should be washed in hot water and left to dry in the sun (or a hot clothes dryer). (BACK)

Head lice migrate from the heads of others who are infected with lice. So they can actually come from anyone with whom your child has close contact such as your child's friends and classmates. Head lice can be passed innocently anytime your child is in close proximity to someone with lice such as when hugging, or when looking at the same computer monitor or even when reading from the same book.

Because most children are always coming into close contact with other children, you should understand that the possibility of head lice is always present. That means your child can become infected at any time, and most likely will at one point or another. It's nearly impossible to ever declare your child's head "lice free."

Head lice do not hop, jump or fly. They migrate through direct contact with an infested person and their belongings. Pets do not transmit head lice, and poor personal hygiene does not cause an infestation. In fact, head lice prefer clean, healthy heads. Head lice do not live in, nor spontaneously generate from, the dirt, trees or the air. They live on the human head!

No, actually they are not. They are annoying, they itch, they eat blood like a mosquito, defecate on your scalp, and they are disgusting...but they are not harmful.