June 3, 2016
Dear Parents,
Each of us dreads the thought that it will be our child that gets lice. The best advice that I can give you is to check your child's head regularly, once a week preferably. Below you will find more information on preventing the spread of lice. If you would like more information, please refer to the Lice page of the Health Blog or contact me in the Health Office.
New Evidence Based Information on Head Lice
Here are some general guidelines and updated evidence based information on lice.
General Guidelines for Staff:
Head Lice:
Remind Students to:
1) Keep heads from touching when lying on the floor or sitting in comfy reading areas (No heads resting on pillows).
2) Do not share hats, combs, hairbrushes, or hair accessories.
General Guidelines for Parents:
Head Lice:
1) Do not share hats, combs, hairbrushes, or hair accessories with friends.
2) Keeping long hair up/back in a braid, pony tail, or pig tails is helpful (not mandatory) while at school and when in close contact with friends; e.g.: summer camps, play dates, overnights, etc....
3) Weekly home head checks are recommended.
General Guidelines for Students:
1) Do not share hats, combs, hairbrushes, or hair accessories with friends.
2) Keep heads from touching when lying on the floor or sitting in comfy reading areas (No heads resting on pillows).
3) If your head feels itchy and you have been scratching your head more than usual, have your parents check your head.
Lice are often not found until the lice are well established. This could take from 6-8 weeks or longer. For this reason CESU school nurses strongly recommend regular home checks. Regular home checks will catch lice before they become well established. Evidence based practice says that only close contacts and family members need to be contacted and screened.
Transmission of lice in school is rare; only 1 out of 10 cases are transmitted at school. The most common times for lice to be transmitted are during summer, winter and spring breaks and whenever children are in the community for extended periods of time together.Once the children are back in school, this is the time when we notice the itching because the children are now still enough to take notice of it.
Lice do not jump. They like to stay close to the scalp where it is warm and they can feed. Lice cannot live off the head for more than 24 hours. Eggs will not hatch off the scalp. Eggs need warmth to hatch. Any eggs farther than 1/4 inch from the head are not viable.
Evidence based practice recommends checking close family members and close contacts. It is not recommended to do mass screenings. We need to remember, that lice are in the community at all times. When we hear of a case we tend to panic. None of us want to get lice. By following the general lice guidelines, you should be able to avoid the chances of getting lice.
Please also refer to the CESU website for Management and Procedures for Head Lice within the district.
Sincerely,
Kristen Taylor, RN
899-4680
kristen.taylor@cesuvt.org
