Not a Louse in this House!
If you have school age children, You may or may not have received that wonderful letter from your school that the Dreaded Lice is going around and please check your child daily for infestation! Even worse, you may or may not have received the nightmarish phone call from your child's school nurse requesting ordering that you 
pick your child up from school immediately because he/she has lice!
At Morehead City Primary School, in North Carolina, those scary letters went home a couple of weeks ago, and then again yesterday! After catching my breath from the slight panic attack, I did a little research on the lovely subject of Lice. What causes it? If my child gets lice, does it mean he's dirty? How does one catch Lice? How does one get rid of Lice? Just the thought of it made me scratch my head ...are you scratching now too?
It seems that having Lice is made out to be a lot worse than it actually is. Not that I recommend going out and getting some, but from what I have learned...there is no need to panic! Lice is passed on from the sharing of hats, scarves, jackets, brushes, etc. Lice can't jump...they can only be transferred by actual contact. At least one out of three children become infested at one point. Most teachers have had Lice at least one time during their career. According to the school nurse at Morehead City Primary School...Lice prefer CLEAN hair. Who Knew? OMG...Maybe I shouldn't wash my child's hair everyday!!! Also, according to our school nurse, Lice cannot survive without a human host for more than 24 hours, they are not spread to household pets (boy, that would be a problem in my house), and they do not cause illness...Just an itchy scalp! Are you scratching your head yet?
If your child is found to have lice, over the counter treatments are available at every pharmacy and the Pharmacist can offer you other suggestions too! According to every article I read online, as long as you follow the instructions on the treatment (follow them exactly), wash the child's sheets and pillows and any stuffed animals they play with in Hot Water and then heat dry, vacuum sofas and other areas where the child "hangs out", and remind your child not to share hats, jackets, scarves, etc. with other children...You should be good to go. Check your child regularly to make sure there is no re-infestation. Keep in mind too, that if another student in your child's class has lice...It doesn't mean that they are dirty, or gross. And remind your child not to tease or make fun of another child for having lice...It could be them next!
If you have more questions about the wonderful subject of lice, talk to your child's teacher or school nurse. They are unfortunately, very experienced on the subject!
Comments(11)