Head Lice Facts
What are head lice?
Head lice are small grey-brown creatures (sometimes appearing almost black). Lice crawl as they do not have wings. An adult head louse can grow to the approximate size of a sesame seed. Larger varieties of head louse can even grow as long as a grain of basmati rice.
What is the prevalence of head lice?
At any one time there will be a few children that have head lice within a school. It is thought that the frequency of head lice in the population remains fairly constant regardless of whether it is term time or school holidays as children will be in contact with eachother throughout the year and head louse infestation can therefore happen at any time.
If they can’t fly, how does head louse infestation occur?
The ONLY way that a head louse can move from one head to another is to walk there. This is why the peak of head louse infestation happens in the 6 to 8 yoear old age range. Reading, whispering and playing together in close proximity means that hair brushing against hair provides opportunities for the louse to hitch a ride on a new head. Head lice have no capacity at all to jump, fly or leap. The infected child then comes home, has cuddles with parents and playes close by siblings and soon the rapidly breeding lice have spread throughout the family.
Where do head lice come from?
Head lice only live on human heads . Therefore, where you might get bitten by fleas from a family pet, head lice can not pass from humans to pets. Similarly, the head louse cannot thrive on a pet’s fur so it is not possible to catch head lice from animals.
Why do some people seem to be more prone to head lice than others?
No matter how long, short, clean or dirty your hair or how old you are head lice will be attracted to your scalp if they get the opportunity to wander there. Whilst one might feel dirty and repulsed if affected by a head louse infestation the fact that it has happened has more to do with your level of near head proximity to someone infected with head lice. If your child keeps catching head lice more than others in their class it is more to do with them probably playing with or working next to a head louse carrier than levels of cleanliness in your child.
My child’s hair is absolutely covered in head lice! How come I didn’t notice sooner?
Head lice have a useful survival skill of changing both their body colour and the colour of their eggs to blend with the hair colour of the scalp that they are on. This means that if combing someone with dark hair’s scalp, any lice found may be dark brown. The reverse is true of lice found on a blonde person’s scalp. This may be why they were not noticed until a major louse infestation had occurred.
Where will I find head louse eggs?
Head louse eggs are always glued very tightly to individual hairs very close to the scalp. This is because the warmth of the scalp makes a warm, humid environment….excellent for good breeding. Concentrations of head louse eggs tend to be under the hair close to the ears and the nape of the neck. These areas are particularly warm due to the density of hair around them…especially at night when lying on a pillow.
How do I get rid of head lice eggs?
Head louse eggs can only be removed by hand or by using a special “nit comb“. Whilst many head lice treatments will kill the eggs they will not remove them from the scalp.
Some people call the lice “nits”. Why is that?
Nits are quite different from the live head lice and their eggs. The nit is the empty egg case that is left on the hair once the infant louse has hatched. These are usually white in colour. The further away from the scalp a nit is found, the older it is because the hair has grown out since that louse hatched. Where a particularly severe nit infestation has occured, one can see what almost looks like a dusting of sugar grains under the hair near the neck and ears. These are all the empty nits from the lice that were combed from the hair.
