HEAD LICE and NITS

HEAD LICE AND NITS

Lice are very common in children. Transmission is via head-to-head contact.
The head louse is a tiny greyish-brown insect, about 2.5mm long.
Head lice cling to hair and are usually found on the scalp. They live on blood from the host,
which they get by biting through the scalp. Adult lice mate. The female then lays eggs that are firmly attached to hair close to the scalp and can be very difficult to remove. After seven or eight days the baby louse hatches out of the egg, leaving a shiny white empty eggshell (nit), which may be found anywhere along a strand of hair.

What causes an infection of head lice?
Infection with head lice is a very common problem especially among school children. Lice pass from one person to another during direct head-to-head contact.

Head lice are mainly spread by direct contact with the hair of an infested person. The most common way to get head lice is by head-to-head contact with a person who already has head lice. Such contact can be common among children during play at:school,home, and elsewhere (e.g., sports activities, playgrounds, camp, and slumber parties).  Lice  cannot jump, fly or hop; they can only transfer to another head by walking along strands of hair.

Uncommonly, transmission may occur by:

·         wearing clothing, such as hats, scarves, coats, sports uniforms, or hair ribbons worn by an infested person;

·         using infested combs, brushes or towels; or

·         lying on a bed, couch, pillow, carpet, or stuffed animal that has recently been in contact with an infested person.

 The belief that head lice are associated with poor hygiene is common but misfounded. Lice are equally likely to be found on clean or dirty hair. Head lice should be seen as nothing more than an unpleasant inconvenience that can be treated.

What symptoms do head lice cause?
Bites from head lice can cause intense itching and irritation on the scalp, but these symptoms
may not appear until at least two months after the lice move in. A rash at the nape of the neck
may also develop.

What if I find lice?
Check every other member of the family, including any adults who have close contact with the
child.You can work out when the lice first moved in by judging how many centimetres from the scalp
you find the nits. Hair grows at about 1cm a month; so a nit 2cm from the scalp was laid about
two months ago.
Contact the school and parents of any other child who may have had head-to-head contact with
your child, so that other children can be checked for lice.

How are head lice treated?
The three main treatments for head lice are listed below, but no method is 100 per cent effective.
You should only start chemical treatment if you find a live louse on your child's head. If you
only find the hatched and empty eggshells (nits), these may be the sign of a previous batch of
lice that have already been eradicated.

Insecticides that kill head lice are available in lotion form.
· malathion (Derbac-M liquid)
· Suleo-C
· Malathion
· PEDITOX (local Indonesian product)
· permethrin (Lyclear creme rinse). Current clinical advice is not to recommend this
product because its short contact time is not enough to be effective.
For them to work, you must follow the manufacturer's instructions to the letter.
Treatment failures may result from not using the product in the correct way, for example:
· if not enough lotion is applied to the head. At least one small bottle (50-55ml) is required
to treat a single head. Young children and those with thinner hair may need less, but long
thick hair may require more.
· tipping all the lotion on the top of the scalp and attempting to spread it from there. You
are more likely to spread the lotion evenly along the length of the hair if you make a
small parting and apply a few drops along the hair. Repeat this process with other small
sections until the whole scalp has been covered.

When treating head lice

1.      Do not use extra amounts of any lice medication unless instructed to do so by your physician and pharmacist. The drugs used to treat lice are insecticides and can be dangerous if they are misused or overused.

2.      All the medications listed above should be kept out of the eyes. If they get onto the eyes, they should be immediately flushed away.

3.      Do not treat an infested person more than 2–3 times with the same medication if it does not seem to be working. This may be caused by using the medicine incorrectly or by resistance to the medicine. Always seek the advice of your health care provider if this should happen. He/she may recommend an alternative medication.

4.      Do not use different head lice drugs at the same time unless instructed to do so by your physician and pharmacist