Educators have been preoccupied with head lice for decades – especially at the elementary school level. Schools organize regular head checks to ensure that lice don't become a problem at school. Students found with nits, the eggs of head lice, usually get sent home with a pamphlet or instruction sheet explaining how to treat the infestation. Parents are informed that under the school's "no-nit" policy, the children can come back when they are nit-free. But the American Academy of Pediatrics declared this summer that no-nit policies were ineffective and unnecessary. The Academy says the policy should be abandoned.
Spreading Nits and Lice
Head lice is a problem for between six and 12 million Americans each year. The large majority of head lice victims are children. Head lice (and school no-nit policies) have a significant economic impact because treatment is relatively expensive; but the primary economic impact comes not from the cost of treatment, but from the lost wages and productivity of parents who have to stay home with kids who have been excluded from school.
An adult louse cannot hop or fly. It has, however, been reported that combing dry hair can create enough static electricity to eject an individual louse from a person's head. Head lice transmission at school is almost entirely a result of physical head-to-head contact, though it can be spread by sharing hats, combs, etc. The likelihood of transferring lice through combs and brushes is reduced because the lice on these items are usually either dead or injured.
Nits (lice eggs) are not transmitted from person to person.
Treating Lice
Treatment for head lice has become a somewhat controversial issue for a variety of reasons. Permethrin, pyrethrins, and malathion are the primary medications available for treating head lice. Some lice have developed resistance to these treatments. And overusing the products can have health consequences for children. Many authorities are reluctant to recommend the products now because head lice are mostly an inconvenient irritant with no serious health consequences (since they don't carry any diseases).
A number of traditional, natural products are also used to treat head lice. The basis for these products is usually an essential oil. They vary in effectiveness.
American Academy of Pediatrics Report
In August of 2010 the American Academy of Pediatrics publish a clinical report on head lice that has become controversial – not so much for its scientific conclusions as for the recommendations it makes. Among the conclusions, a statement that no healthy child should be excluded from or allowed to miss school time because of head lice, and that school no-nit policies should be abandoned.
The AAP says that school head lice screening programs are largely an ineffective waste of time. And because of the dangers of overusing head lice medications, the AAP says that only trained professionals should diagnose a head lice infestation and ask parents to treat their children for head lice.
Further Resources
Head Lice Treatments for Kids – Pediatrics, at About.com
Lice, at WebMD
Fact Sheet on Lice, at the Center for Disease Control
Lice, Pediatrics (August, 2010), from the American Academy of Pediatrics
Greg Cruey - Greg Cruey is an educator and journalist. He works as an educational interventionist specializing in a small, rural school in Central ...
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