With the return to school, this is a great time to review some common infectious diseases.
Lice is common in school-aged children in the United States. It is spread through direct head to head contact with a person who is infected with lice. It is also spread through the use of shared clothing or personal items of an infected person. These items include: coats, hats, towels, hair brushes, combs, pillows, and bedding. Personal hygiene and cleanliness have nothing to do with the transmission of lice, nor do pets.
Signs and symptoms of head lice infestation:
- Tickling feeling of something moving in the hair
- Itching, caused by an allergic reaction to the bites of head louse
- Irritability and difficulty sleeping; head lice are most active in the dark
- Sores on the head due to scratching. These sores can sometimes become infected with bacteria found on the person's skin.
What to do if you or your child have head lice:
All household members and other close contacts should be checked; those persons with evidence of an active infestation should be treated. Treatment can be over-the-counter or prescription grade. Follow the directions on the bottle or as directed by your provider.
Head lice do not survive long if they fall off a person and cannot feed. You do not need to spend a lot of time or money on house cleaning activities. Follow these steps to help avoid re-infestation by lice that have recently fallen off the hair and crawled onto clothing or furniture.
- Machine wash and dry clothing, bed linens, and other items the infested person wore or used during the 2 days before treatment using the hot water (130°F) laundry cycle and the high heat drying cycle. Clothing and items that are not washable can be dry-cleaned OR sealed in a plastic bag and stored for 2 weeks.
- Soak combs and brushes in hot water (at least 130°F) for 5-10 minutes.
- Vacuum the floor and furniture, particularly where the infected person sat or lay. However, the risk of getting infected by a louse that has fallen onto a rug, carpet, or furniture is very small. Head lice survive less than 1-2 days if they fall off a person and cannot feed; nits cannot hatch, and usually die within a week if they are not kept at the same temperature as that found close to the human scalp. Spending a lot of time and money on house cleaning activities is not necessary to avoid re-infestation by lice or nits that may have fallen off the head or crawled onto furniture or clothing.
- Do not use fumigant sprays; they can be toxic if inhaled or absorbed through the skin.
Students are no longer excluded from school due to lice. Please review the attached protocol for SBLSD policy.
If you have any questions, I am happy to answer them for you. You can reach me at (253) 891-4458. If I am with a student and do not answer, please leave a message, and I will call you back.
Kylie Fossum
Health Tech
