Separating facts from fiction as kids get ready to head back to school

It's almost time for books, backpacks, homework – and head lice?

As younger students in pre-K, kindergarten and elementary school return to tight quarters with increased head-to-head contact, experts are warning parents and teachers that head lice cases are likely to spread.

“When the kids have close physical contact in school, the incidents do clearly go up,” said Bernard Cohen, a Johns Hopkins pediatrician and head lice expert. 

Here's how head lice experts separate fact from the fiction on the pesky bugs. 

Lice are flying health risks: Fiction

There's no evidence that head lice carry disease of any kind, said Laurie Combe, the president of the National Association of School Nurses.  

“It is a nuisance and certainly causes anxiety, but it is not a known health problem,” Combe said.

Getting head lice is not an indication of poor hygiene, she said. Lice also can't propel themselves from head to head without close physical contact, or if people share a brush, hat or other item that touches the hair.

"People believe that head lice jump and they don't – they crawl," Combe said. 

What to do: The truth about lice and how to protect your kids

No-nit policies work: Fiction

No-nit policies, where students are banned from school if they have nits – baby shells of lice – in their hair, are an issue at the heart of prevention efforts. But experts say they are ineffective.

“No-nit policies have never been demonstrated in the evidence to reduce the incidence of head lice,” Combe said. “They result in unnecessary school absences and we know that seat time is critical for children’s learning.”

Half of lice cases are over-identified and children could be exposed to unnecessary treatment, Combe said. For low-income parents, she said missing a day of work to care for a child could result in a loss of wages or even firing.

And the kids themselves could be subject to stigma and shaming, Combe said.

Cohen said the real concerns are the live crawlers, not the nits. As long as students can show they have been treated and are rid of live crawlers, Cohen said there's no reason for schools to restrict kids from attending.

Lice have a hard time attaching to the hair shafts of African American children, Cohen said, possibly because of their cork-screwed shape.

Sharing clothes, hair items risky: Fact

The best way to avoid lice is to instruct kids to avoid head-to-head contact with peers and to never share personal care items such as combs, brushes and hats, according to Combe and Cohen.

“Don't share jackets and hats and hoods, use your own stuff, and let everybody else use their stuff,” Cohen said.

“Parents can proactively, periodically check their children's scalp or hair, and if they think their child has a problem, they can ask their school nurse to take a look," Combe said.

You need to disinfect your house: Fiction

Cohen said lice thrive on close, physical, head-to-head contact and need blood meals to survive. But lice spreading through inanimate objects is not usually a major cause for concern.

“The adult organisms may survive for a little while off the scalp, but the new ones that have just hatched need to have a meal pretty quickly, and if they're not on your head or a place where they can get a meal, they're not going to be viable for very long,” Cohen said. “You don't need to tear up the house, for sure.”

The No-Panic Parent’s Guide to Managing Lice

Just hearing the word “lice” can make anybody’s head suddenly feel itchy and send a parent into a tailspin of horrified panic. Head lice is a common problem for many school age kids and their families, affecting 6 to 12 million people annually. They can be found just about anywhere - schools, daycare, and homes - and they are not picky when it comes to any one group of people. Lice are equally happy living in clean hair as much as dirty hair and personal hygiene has nothing to do with getting head lice.

As a parent, it can be quite horrifying to get that call or email from school telling you your kid has lice. While lice are contagious and can be very annoying, they pose very little health risk and have not been shown to spread disease. So before you decontaminate your entire household and turn your world upside down, dive in to this practical guide on how to deal with those pesky bugs.

What are Head Lice?

Head lice are tiny parasitic insects that infect the skin and scalp areas. The louse (singular form of lice) lives off small amounts of blood from the scalp. Lice lay their eggs, also known as “nits”, very close to the scalp along the hair shaft.

The key to managing lice is understanding their life cycle. Head lice can live up to 28 days and they develop in 3 phases: the nit or egg, the nymph, and the adult louse:

• Nits (eggs) are typically pearly white or grey, oval-shaped, and usually found stuck to the hair shaft close to the scalp. They typically hatch in 6 to 9 days.

• Nymphs are typically greyish-white and look like a small version of the adult. They become adults within 7 days of hatching.

• Adult louse are usually beige in color and the size of a sesame seed. They can lay up to 10 eggs per day.

How Do You Get Lice?

Lice do not fly or jump - they crawl. The most common way to get lice is through prolonged head-to-head contact. While lice can be spread through the sharing of brushes, hats, pillows, and furniture, the risk of catching lice this way is very, very low.

How Do I know If I (Or my child) has lice?

The most common symptom of lice is an itchy scalp or rash caused by the skin’s reaction to lice saliva. However, sometimes it takes up to 4 to 6 weeks to develop a reaction, which means many people can have lice but experience no symptoms. The easiest way to know if your child or family member has lice is to sit them down in a well-lit spot and and comb through their hair looking for live lice or nits. Be aware that lice can be fast moving and tend to shy away from light. Nits, on the other hand, are often found stuck to the hair and within 1 inch of the scalp.

Treating Lice

Most of the time, lice can be treated at home. There are a few instances in which an office visit is a good idea, including concerns about lice in a newborn, or if the skin on the scalp looks infected - red, swollen, or with drainage.

The first line of treatment for most adults and kids over the age of 2 months old is an over-the-counter treatments using 1% permethrin or pyethrins. It is important to note that most medications kill lice but do not kill nits. Successful treatments require medication followed by careful combing of the hair to remove lice and nits. One approach to lice and nit removal is called the Wet-Comb Method.

The Wet-Comb Method

With a little conditioner or combing gel (usually included in most over-the-counter treatment kits), you make start the process of banishing those pesky lice! Following these simple steps to get the job done:

Step 1: Generously apply conditioner or combing gel to the scalp and full length of your child’s dry hair.

Step 2: Untangle the hair with a brush or wide-toothed comb

Step 3: Using a fine-toothed head lice comb (available at most pharmacies), carefully comb along the scalp through to the ends of the hair.

Step 4: Wipe the comb after each stroke on a white paper towel and check carefully for nits or lice

Step 5: Comb each section at least 5 times.

Step 6: Wash the hair as normal when finished.

Repeat the wet-comb method every 2-3 days until the person is nit- and lice-free for at least 10 days.

Containing the Spread

While you may be tempted to throw out every stuffed animal, wash your entire wardrobe, and do away with your furniture, I encourage you to pause and take a more practical approach. The truth is, lice generally don’t survive more than 1-2 days away from the host and nits can only survive up to a week. By following these practical tips for frequently used household items, you can keep it from spreading and save yourself a lot of hassle:

• Machine wash and dry clothes and bed linens used within 1-2 days of treatment.

• Soak brushes and combs in hot water (not boiling) for 10 minutes.

• Avoid excessive household cleaning or use of pesticides and sprays. It is reasonable to do limited vacuuming of areas where the person may have recently sat including furniture and carpets.

• Clothing or items that can’t be washed can be sealed up in a bag for 2 weeks.

Keeping Kids in School

While many schools and camps follow a “no-nit” policy and will often send kids home with any signs of nits or lice, the American Association of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control have recently recommended that children should not be restricted from school for lice or nits. It is reasonable to allow a child to finish the school day, go home and be treated, and return to school.

Tea Tree oil & Head Lice: To Use or not to Use?

Probably one of the most recommended home treatment and preventative products for head lice is tea tree oil.  How effective is it, and are there potential side effects?

Tea tree oil, also known as Melaleuca oil, was originally derived (and still is today) from the leaves of the Australian tea tree shrub (Melaleuca alternifolia).  Since the 1980s production has expanded to other regions of the world and is now from different species, all known as “tea tree oil.” For example, Melaleuca armillaris and Melaleuca stypheliodes hail from Tunisia and Egypt, while Melaleuca quinquenervia comes from the United States. 

Australian Aborigines have used the healing properties of the Melaleuca alternifoila plant for years. In the 1920s, an Australian chemist by the name of Arthur Penfold, first published reports of tea tree oils, antimicrobial activity. Today, although scientific data is insufficient, anecdotal evidence suggests that tea tree oil’s benefits include antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and antiprotozoal properties (protozoa are one-celled organisms which can multiply in humans and create serious infections).

But what about head lice? Does tea tree oil work in killing adult lice, nymphs (babies, toddlers, and teenage lice) and nits (eggs)?  Bottom line, there is no product, device or tool on the market today that kills lice and nits 100%. Period.

Ok, if no product, device or tool kills lice or nits 100%, then is tea tree oil safe and the best product to get rid of a head lice infestation or ward one off?  After all, Australian Aborigines have used the plant for ages.  And it’s an oil derived from a natural plant.  It has to be better than using OTC chemicals that are toxic and longer work, right?

As for the Aborigines, they used the whole plant, not the processed oil. OTC pesticide products are indeed ineffective nowadays, due to the increased resistance of lice in the last 20 years. And yes, tea tree oil is a natural derivative of the plant. However, most people don’t realize that there are potential side effects that you might want to consider before using.

There is evidence that tea tree and lavender oils, when used repeatedly on pre-pubescent boys, can cause enlarged breast growth.  Research is once again limited, but one study concluded that tea tree and lavender oils have properties that disrupt hormones in young boys. No known studies have been performed on young girls at this time.

Tea tree oil can also irritate your skin, when used in strong dosages in repeated low dose formula, the result can be an annoying itchy head which can leave you wondering, do I have lice again?  PTSD from a head lice infestation is very real.  Tea tree oil is quite toxic when swallowed so please be very careful when using it around children.

Doc Dispels Common Myths About Head Lice

Parents should be reassured that personal hygiene has nothing to do with the problem

Although lice do not cause serious physical harm, they can result in a lot of emotional distress because many people still mistakenly believe they are a sign of poor hygiene, an expert explains.

Head lice bite into the scalp to feed on blood, but these bites are usually not painful. Still, a lice infestation can strike fear in families for a number of reasons, including the stigma of being deemed "dirty."

A lice infestation, however, is not a reflection of a person's cleanliness, according to Dr. Andrew Bonwit, a pediatric infectious disease expert at Loyola University Health System in Illinois.

"Personal hygiene and socioeconomic status have nothing to do with having or transmitting head lice. The head louse is an equal-opportunity pest," explained Bonwit in a university news release. "The infestation is usually a nuisance and almost never a serious problem in itself."

There are other common misconceptions about lice, Bonwit pointed out. In order to ease parents' fears, he dispelled the following myths:

• Myth: Pets spread lice. "Animals are not known to carry head lice nor to transmit them to people," Bonwit said.

• Myth: Sharing personal items spreads lice. "Although it's probably best not to share such items as combs, hairbrushes and hats, these do not seem to transmit the pest," Bonwit added. "Transmission of lice seems to occur only by direct head-to-head contact from one person to another."

• Myth: Kids with lice should be sent home from school immediately."The American Academy of Pediatrics does not endorse 'no-nit' policies that exclude children from school because nits are present," Bonwit noted. "In fact, even the presence of mature head lice is not considered a valid reason to exclude children, only a cause for prompt referral to the physician for treatment."

• Myth: Lice carry disease. "Head lice do not transmit serious infectious disease," Bonwit explained.

Although lice often cause a big stir, they are tiny and often hard to spot. "Lice are very small, about the length of George Washington's nose on a quarter," said Bonwit, who is also an assistant professor of pediatric infectious disease at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. "The lice produce eggs, called nits, which become strongly cemented to the host's hair shafts."

Nits look like small, dark spots on the side of the hair shaft. Although the infestation isn't painful, it can be itchy, Bonwit cautioned. "Sometimes the patient has been so itchy that he or she scratches the scalp to the point of minor skin infections and even causing some enlarged lymph nodes on the back of the neck or behind the ears," he said. "While these changes may alarm parents, they aren't directly harmful."

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that up to 12 million lice infestations occur each year in the United States among children aged 3 to 11 years.

"Parents and school staff may become understandably upset by outbreaks of head lice, but it is important to remember that if the problem occurs, it is treatable, although repeat applications of medicine are usually needed," Bonwit said.

The most common lice treatment is over-the-counter or prescription shampoos or lotions that must be applied to the scalp, left on for a specified time, then rinsed off. Often a fine-toothed comb is also needed to remove nits to prevent further infestation.

"The life cycle is about seven days from the laying of the eggs to the hatching, so a second insecticide treatment is recommended, after the first application," Bonwit advised. "If the treatments are used as directed, problems other than scalp irritation are unlikely to occur."

When Lice Come Back

You carefully combed out the nits (lice eggs), applied and reapplied lice treatment as directed, and washed all the bedding and clothes. You thought your home was (finally) lice-free. Yet, the pesky mites keep coming back.

There are two reasons for a recurrent lice infestation:

• The lice treatment you used didn’t work.

• You or someone in your family came in contact with lice again.

Treatment Didn’t Work

Treatments might not work for a couple of reasons. First, studies have shown that lice can be resistant to pesticide treatments that have been used in some geographical areas.  

Second, female adult lice lay up to eight eggs a day. Over-the-counter lice treatments and prescription ones kill live lice and their eggs (nits), but they might not catch all of them. Because of the life cycle of lice, over-the-counter and prescription treatments may require two treatments, 7-9 days apart. If you don’t reapply the product within the correct number of days, lice eggs can lurk behind and hatch later.

To be most effective, follow up prescription or over-the-counter treatment by combing through the hair for two weeks to rid the head completely of lice.

Someone or Something Else Gave Lice Back to You

You can get rid of lice on your head and in your home only to have it crawl back onto you or your child at daycare, school, or the gym. You might not be able to control the environment outside your home, but these tips can help keep lice away:

• Avoid head-to-head and hair-to-hair contact. This is the way head lice most commonly spread. Think about events like kids’ slumber parties, sleepover camps, and sporting events such as wrestling.

• Don’t share hats, scarves, hoodies, or other clothing.

• Don’t share hair ribbons, barrettes, combs or brushes. (Studies suggest girls are more likely to get lice than boys).

• Don’t share towels.

• Don’t share beds, sofas, rugs, pillows, or stuffed animals with someone who has or recently had lice.

How to Keep Lice from Coming Back

The CDC and FDA say you don’t need to spend a lot of time and money cleaning the house after a lice outbreak. Head lice are bloodsuckers. Once they fall off the body, they only survive for a day or two.

5 Ways to Lower Your Odds of Getting Lice

You’ve never had lice and want to make sure it stays that way. Head lice is very common among kids between ages 3 and 11. If you’re a parent, teacher, or caregiver of a child this age, lice are more likely to find their way into your home.

You can have lice and not yet know it. Lice eggs (nits) are very hard to see and may not cause itching at first. It’s not always possible to keep these mites away, but you can take a few simple steps to reduce your risk. Here are five things to know about preventing lice.

1. Watch Your Head

Lice crawl onto the body. They can’t fly or jump. They most often spread with head-to-head contact. That means you usually must be close to someone with lice to catch it. Avoid activities that involve hair-to-hair contact as much as possible.

2. It's Nice to Share, But Not Always

That hat on the store rack might look tempting and make for a great selfie, but think twice before you try it on. You can get lice if you share hats, hoodies, towels, beds, and pillows with someone who has or recently had it. Sometimes, lice spread on combs and brushes. Such “shared contact” is uncommon, but can happen. Lice can live for about a day or two after falling off the body. To prevent lice, never share things that touch the head.

3. Don’t Lend an Ear

Lice don’t often live on hard surfaces like plastic, but they can sometimes hang out on ear buds for a short time. To lower your risk of catching them, don’t share headphones at home or at the gym.

4. Avoid the Comfy Couch

It might be nice to sit on the plush sofa at the doctor’s office or library, but ask yourself this: Who sat there before you? Lice or lice eggs (nits) can live for about 48 hours on upholstered furniture and rugs. A safer bet is a wooden or plastic chair. Stuffed animals are a hideaway for lice, too.

5. Do Your Laundry

Worried you may have been around someone with lice? Lice die when exposed to temperatures greater than 128.3°F for 5 or more minutes. Prevent a lice outbreak by tossing your clothing, hat, jacket, scarf, gloves, and any other items into the washer. Use hot water (130° F or higher), and then dry on high heat. Soak your combs and brushes in the wash, too. Can’t wash an item? Place it in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer for 2 weeks.

Parents, Schools Overreact to Head Lice, Expert Says

Aug. 24, 2000 -- The start of the school year can mean more than just back-to-school shopping trips and first-day-of-class jitters; for many children, it also means creepy, crawly head lice. Even hearing the words makes most people wrinkle their noses in disgust. But are the strict measures taken against head lice -- such as the so-called "No Nits" policy that bars children with even one louse egg from attending school -- warranted, or are they overkill?

For one scientist from the Harvard School of Public Health, society has definitely gone overboard, over-diagnosing, over-treating, and over-worrying about a minor nuisance that doesn't even qualify as a public health issue.

"We are dealing with head lice: They don't cause disease, they don't transmit anything, and we think they are much less contagious than people believe," says Richard Pollack, PhD, an instructor of immunology and infectious diseases.

Pollack and his team of researchers recently published a study in the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal that showed that in about 40% of cases, head lice are incorrectly diagnosed, leading to unnecessary treatments and unnecessary absences from school.

Pollack invited people who visited a web site that provides information on head lice to submit specimens of items that they considered to be lice or nits. The researchers examined the samples under a microscope within two days of receiving them. Each sample was identified by the species of louse and its life stage (egg, nymph, or adult). A person was considered infected if their sample included at least one adult or nymph louse, or a louse egg capable of hatching.

The researchers received more than 600 samples, each containing from one to 100 or more objects. Lice or their eggs were found in 60% of the samples; other critters, such as beetles, mites, and bedbugs, were found in 5%. The rest contained other debris, including dandruff, scabs, fibers, dirt, and knotted hair.

Slightly more than half of the samples that actually did contain lice or nits had a living louse or egg capable of hatching (indicating an active infestation); the other half were either hatched eggs or dead eggs.

How Do You Know If You Have Them?

The thought of lice might give you the creepy crawlies -- and with good reason. When these tiny mites infect the scalp and skin, they trigger intense itching and may even create a rash around the hairline.

There are different types of lice. The type you have depends on the part of your body that’s affected:

• Head lice affect the scalp.

• Pubic lice (also called “crabs”) affect your genital area.

• Body lice affect other areas of the body and are often found in seams of clothing.

This article will focus on head lice, a very common condition among kids in elementary and middle school. About 6 million to 12 million of them get it every year. Head lice are most active at night. They can cause such intense itching that your child could lose sleep over it.

It’s uncomfortable, but lice won’t make you sick. They don’t spread disease and they’re not a sign that you’re dirty. You can get lice even if you shower regularly and have super-clean hair. These pesky creatures don’t fly or jump -- they crawl over to the closest head they can find. This is called head-to-head contact, and most people get lice this way. But they also can spread onto hats, helmets, combs, bedding, pillows – even ear buds. Young children may get or spread lice when crawling on rugs.

It’s important to know the early signs of lice. Then you can take steps to keep your child comfortable and keep the mites from spreading throughout your home.

Identifying Lice

These pests are a type of insect called a parasite. They need human blood to live. Head lice usually stay close to the scalp and behind the ears. You might also spot them on the eyebrows and eyelashes.

Female adult lice lay six to eight eggs a day on your scalp, and they spread from there. There are three forms of lice to watch for:

• Nits, or lice eggs. They’re very tiny -- about half the size of a pinhead. They’re hard to see. The oval-shaped eggs often look yellow or white but may be the same color as your hair. They stick like glue to the end? First 1-2 inches of hair shaft closest to the scalp (not the end) and are hard to remove. You may confuse them with dandruff or flakes from hair spray build-up. Head lice nits usually hatch in 8 to 9 days. When they do, they leave behind clear shells, which remain stuck to the hair shaft and appear more grey in color.

• A nymph is a baby louse (singular for lice). It’s what hatches from the nit. It feeds on the blood on your scalp and keeps growing for 9 to 12 days. Nymphs (and adult lice) move quickly and avoid light. Mites begin to appear in your hair, on your skin, and on anything your head has touched. Itching might not start right away.

• Adult lice are about 2 to 3 millimeters long, about the size of a sesame seed. They’re tan or grayish-white. The color can be lighter or darker, depending on the shade of your hair. Adult lice have six legs with claws at the end that allow them to latch tightly to your hair. Typically, adult head lice live 30 days when stuck to your head. If they fall off, they die within 1 to 2 days.

If you spot lice, tell your child’s school so they can properly clean classroom items and stop the spread. The CDC says lice aren’t a medical hazard, and most health departments don’t require that you report it. But local school boards make their own school lice policies. Check with your child’s school to find out its policy.