Frequently Asked Questions about HEAD LICE
The questions and answers below are based entirely on the emails we receive daily on info@millium.nl. In case you have any further questions after consulting these frequently asked questions and their answers, please do not hesitate to send us your questions and/or comments through contact! 1. Should you keep your child at home in case of an active headlice infestation at school, or in case your child is actively infested ? 2. Where and how should one exactly look for lice and/or nits ? 3. Do lice and nits alsways come together ? 4. How can you tell whether nits are no longer active ? 5. What is the best way for schools to inform and educate parents ? 6. Have hairdressers been trained and educated on how to deal with headlice ? 7. Are treatment instructions available in other languages ? 8. Do headlice float on water and can so infect my child whilst swimming ? 9. How can I tell the difference between dandruf and nits ? 10. What is the effect of a greasy scalp and/or hair on headlice and nits ? 11. Is it possible that lice and/or nits stay behind even after long and intensive combing ? 12. What should one do with head lice and nits removed from the hair ? 13. Can lice jump ? 14. How long can lice and nits survive without human blood ? 15. Are lice and nits resistant against malathion and/or permethrine, the active insecticides in most prevailing lice treatments ? 16. What should I do ? I have treated my child a dozen times, but it still has lice ! 17. Why is it that within a family it is usually the same child that gets infested when lice are around ? 18. Do I really have to wash all clothes and bedlinen at 60º and clean/vacuum all coats, furniture, hats, carseats etc. ? 19. Do head lice occur in other bodyhair like breast-, armpit- or pubic hair ? 20. Do pets or other animals carry head lice ? 21. What can be done in case of children whose parents do not take head lice seriously enough and do not consistently treat their child ? 1. Should you keep your child at home in case of an active headlice infestation at school, or in case your child is actively infested? Children should never stay home from school because they themselves, or their classmates have head lice ! This contributes to stigmatization of children with head lice, which is entirely undesirable and uncalled for ! Head lice is a completely natural phenomenon like ants or muscitoes, and has nothing to do with a lack of hygiene or other personal or family conditions ! Back to FAQ's about head lice 2. Where should one exactly look for lice and/or nits? Lice prefer warm, humid and dark spots on the scalp, like behind the ears or in the neck, but can also occur even in the eyebrows. Back to FAQ's about head lice 3. Do lice and nits alsways come together ? Lice and nits always come together. Female headlice glue their nits (eggs) to the hair close to the scalp. The nits are drumshaped and appr. 1 mm. long. An active nit is really glued to the hiar and very difficult to remove, whereas an inactive nit, (dead or hatched) can be pulled from the hair quite easily. Following a treatment all lice and nits must be gone. However, often dead or hatched nits, greyisch in color, are mistaken for active nits. These inactive nits, however, are completely harmless and will gradually disappear with regular washing and combing of the hair. Back to FAQ's about head lice 4. How can you tell whether nits are no longer active ? The distance between the nit attached to the hair and the scalp is a great measurement to determine the age of the nit, 1 cm. equalling appr. 1 month. Because nits hatch within a maximum of 10 days, it is safe to assume that all nits at a distance of more than 0.5 cm from the scalp are no longer active, either dead or have hatched, and do no longer pose any risk. These inactive nits will gradullay disappear with regular washing and combing. Back to FAQ's about head lice 5. What is the best way for schools to inform and educate parents ? In writing: through a specific letter, in the periodic schoolnews, through a brochure or a poster at the message boards at the school's entrance and/or in the class room. Verbally: at registration, a presentation at a parents meeting. Assignment: as part of a special interactive school/class project on head lice. When the school has its own website, of course a special educative head lice section augmented with ad-hoc head lice alarms is very suitable. Back to FAQ's about head lice 6. Have hairdressers been trained and educated on how to deal with headlice ? Detailed information on how to properly diagnose head lice and the proper measures they have to take in case of a positive diagnosis are a standard part of any hairdresser training. Anybody with an active head lice infestation will not be cut and/or shampooed by a hairdresser. Back to FAQ's about head lice 7. Are treatment instructions available in other languages ? Local (school) health authorities have extensive instructions available on how to deal with headlice, often also in locally prevailing other languages. At request these authorities can make these instructions available to schools and parents. In addition to routine information visits, these authorities can at request make verbal instructions/presentations to schools and/or parents in several languages. Back to FAQ's about head lice 8. Do headlice float on water and can so infect my child whilst swimming ? Lice can swim nor float ! They prefer to stay where they are, at warm comfortable spots in the hair. However, joint dressingroom facilities and/or joint lockers at swimming pools or other sport facilities are a great source of infestation ! The best precaution is for each child to have its own bag to put away their clothes in. Back to FAQ's about head lice 9. How can I tell the difference between dandruf and nits ? Often parents confuse dandruf with head lice ! However, there are siginifcant differences: Dandruf consists of small flakes of skin, real white in color, spontaneously dropping from the hair. Nits are much darker in color, and are glued to the hair. Back to FAQ's about head lice 10. What is the effect of a greasy scalp and/or hair on headlice and nits ? Lice and nits love clean scalps ! The cleaner the scalp, the more attractive to the lice ! There seems hardly any relationship between a greasy scalp and/or hair and the occurrence of head lice ! Back to FAQ's about head lice 11. Is it possible that lice and/or nits stay behind even after long and intensive combing ? Any lice staying behind following intense combing is unlikely ! Nits staying behind, however, is quite likely ! When a female lice has produced nits, they will hatch into new tiny lice within a maximum of 10 days. It then takes another 7 days again for these new lice to grow and be able to produce their own eggs/nits. This explains the importantness of the prescribed repeating of the treatment on at least every third day following the first treatment, until there are no longer any traces of live lice or nits left. Back to FAQ's about head lice 12. What should one do with head lice and nits removed from the hair ? Kill the removed lice and nits through squeezing them between the fingers, by burning them, or by putting them in a small container with water and flushing them through the toilet. Back to FAQ's about head lice 13. Can lice jump ? No, lice cannot jump ! Lice can walk, the warmer the faster ! Lice are cross walkers. Infestation is caued by direct contact. Direct contact between childeren is ons of the primary causes. Head lice also walk from coat to coat, through hats, through shawls, through bedlinen. Also the use of the same comb or brusch may lead to infestation. Back to FAQ's about head lice 14. How long can lice and nits survive without human blood ? At a regular room temperature of 20 degrees Celsius and without human blood, grown lice can survive for a maximum of two days away from the scalp. A nit can survive a maximum of 6 days away from the scalp/hair. Back to FAQ's about head lice 15. Are lice and nits resistant against malathion and/or permethrine, the active insecticides in most prevailing lice treatments ? Yes ! Increasingly resistancy is being reported against these insecticides, the active ingredients in most prevailing lice treatments. No single traditonal insecticide based lice treatment now guarantees a succesful treatment. Not only resistance, but also reinfestation, inconsistent usage, and insufficient discipline are the causes for the increasinly frequent failure of these treatments ! Back to FAQ's about head lice 16. What should I do ? I have treated my child a dozen times, but it still has lice ! Often parents mistakenly take inactive nits for live nits. They then continue to treat whereas there is no longer any active infestation. The only thing one should then do is the regular washing and combing of the hair as usual, gradually removing the dead nits from the hair. On the other hand, the understandable fear to extend or repeat the use of the harmful insecticides on the scalps of children, often leads to frustrating reinfestation. Back to FAQ's about head lice 17. Why is it that within a family it is usually the same child that gets infested when lice are around ? Lice and nits apparently also have their preferences. One scalp and hair is more attractive to them than the other scalp and hair. The reason for these preferences can not be explained. It is like with muscitoes, one person is more attractive to muscitoes than the other. Back to FAQ's about head lice 18. Do I really have to wash all clothes and bedlinen at 60º and clean/vacuum all coats, furniture, hats, carseats etc. ? If you follow the Millium method with the whole family this is strictly speaking not necessary. However, to prevent the infestation of others, not being members of the family, is makes sense to clean everything thoroughly. It is a fact that head lice can only survive for a maximum of two days, 48 hours, without human blood, and nits can survive a maximum of six days. This implies that to thoroughly disinfect for example clothes, coats, shawls and hats, they should be kept in a carefully closed bag for at least 6 full days. An alternative is the freezer. By putting the garments etc. in the freezer for 24 hours, also all lice and nits will be killed and no longer pose any risk. Back to FAQ's about head lice 19. Do head lice occur in other bodyhair like breast-, armpit- or pubic hair ? No, headlice only occur on the head, so also in eyebrows, mustache or beard ! Pubic lice is an entirely different species of lice only affecting adults, mostly carried by sexual contact, or sometimes through bedlinen or clothes. Back to FAQ's about head lice 20. Can animals, pets carry head lice and infest people ? No, this is entirely impossible. Head lice only occur with humans. Animals, pets may be affected by other kind of lice, but these are animal lice and will never affect humans ! Back to FAQ's about head lice 21. What can be done in case of children whose parents do not take head lice seriously enough and do not consistently treat their child ? These situations unfortunately do occur quite frequently and are difficult to handle ! The only solution is and will always be to have a serious conversation with the parents, family involved, preferably by a school and parent representative jointly, to make these parents aware of their joint responsibility for the well being of the class and the school, and to support and guide them in the proper treatment of their child. As a last resort, the help of local school health authorities may be engaged. Back to FAQ's about head lice