Blood Sucking Parasites Mercilessly Attack Children Head Lice!
We’re well into the first semester of school and already many children will have been cursed by the creature that makes both parents and teachers shudder with the fear of yet another outbreak in the family or the classroom. If you have ever seen one of these creatures magnified to the size of a cockroach, it is no wonder that we feel so repelled at the thought of a family of these monsters taking up residence in the locks of our precious ones! Stephen Spielberg must have taken blueprints for creature design from this disgusting mite!
So what do these pests look like if you don’t have an electron microscope and how will you know if you or your child has been infested?
Signs and Symptoms:
Lice are tiny brown and gray parasites that can cause itching and scratching, especially on areas of the body that are covered with hair (typically the scalp, neck, and behind the ears). If your child’s hair is involved, you might be able to see the tiny lice eggs (called “nits”), which look like white grains of sand attached to the hair shafts. It is more common to see nits in a child’s hair than it is to see live lice crawling on the scalp. The best way to check on the presence of lice, if you are not sure, is to use the following lice detection regime:
1. Wash the hair as normal.
2. Apply conditioner liberally, including the full length of long hair.
3. Lay out white tissues over which you will comb the hair.
4. Comb the hair through with a normal comb first, to get rid of any knots.
5. With a fine tooth comb (“nit comb”), starting from the roots of the hairs, comb out along the complete length of the hair. After each stroke check the comb for lice and wipe it clean. Work systematically around the whole head of hair.
6. Rinse the hair as normal.
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The Creature”
The head louse, Pediculus humanus capitus, though very small (2 mm to 4 mm long), can be seen by the human eye. Lice live among human hairs, draw blood from the skin (although the amount drawn is almost too little to measure), and lay eggs (“nits”) on hair shafts, close to the skin surface, where the temperature is perfect for incubation. They have tiny claws on their legs that are adapted for feeding & clinging to hair or clothing. Their bites may cause inflammation and itching, and they can become infected. Temporarily, lice can live in clothing, bed linens, combs, brushes, and hats that have come in contact with an infested person. Kids and teens are most prone to catching lice because they are likely to share such personal items and because they are often in close physical contact with other infected children. Six to 12 million people are infested with lice each year.
Prevention:
Although a head lice infection is not a sign of un-cleanliness, you can help prevent lice by taking the following precautions:
- Avoiding physical contact with a person who has lice.
- Not sharing combs, brushes, hats, helmets, ribbons, or other personal items.
- Examining and treating members of your household who have had close contact with a person infected with lice.
- Keeping your child home from school or day care until the morning after treatment for lice.
- Keep your child’s hair short, tied up, or platted while at school.
Incubation:
Lice eggs hatch within 1 to 2 weeks after they are laid, and newly hatched lice must bite within 24 hours of hatching. However, itching doesn’t always start right away. It depends on how sensitive a particular person’s skin is to the lice bites.
Head lice are highly contagious. Although they don’t fly in the air or walk on the ground, they can pass from person to person on clothing, bed linens, combs, brushes, and hats.
Home Treatment:
Lice are not dangerous, but they can be annoying. There are several commercially available shampoo, mousse or lotion formulas available overseas, (look for formulas containing permethrin 1%) however I have never seen any of these on the local market here in Bali. Some natural remedies to try would be tea tree oil, or using the before lice detection method as a treatment. (The conditioner causes the louse to lose its grip on the slippery hair, and also probably blocks the breathing apparatus .This treatment has the benefit of not exposing the person to unnecessary chemicals, and reduces the likelihood of the lice becoming resistant to medications). This will have to be performed every 2 days for a fortnight to be effective.
Washing clothing and bed linens in very hot water (128.3 degrees Fahrenheit, or 53.5 degrees Celsius) or putting them in airtight bags for 10 days can help kill the lice and their eggs. Hair-care items, like combs and brushes, can either be soaked in hot water or medicated shampoo or thrown away. Because lice infestations are easily passed from person to person in the same house, members of your family may need treatment for lice infestation to prevent lice from coming back.
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Kim Patra is a qualified Registered Nurse and Midwife that has been living and working in Bali for almost twenty years. She now runs her own private practice and medical referral service from her Kuta office. Kim is happy to discuss any health concerns with you and she may be contacted via e-mail at info@chcbali.com
