Head Lice and Nits
Who and where?
Head louse infection is a problem of the whole community, not just the schools.
Infection is common during school holidays as well as during term time. Parents start to worry more about lice when children go back to school because they think the lice are being caught there. A lot of infections are caught from close family and
friends in the home and community.
It’s not just children who have them; adults get them too.
It’s often said that head lice prefer clean, short hair.
In fact, they probably don’t care whether hair is dirty or clean, short or long.
HEAD LICE – A GUIDE FOR PARENTS
Checking the hair of everyone in the family at least once a
week ensures early detection.
WET COMBING – HOW TO DO IT!
1) Wash the hair well, then dry it with a towel. The hair should be
damp, not dripping. Apply ordinary conditioner and leave in
the hair.
2) Make sure there is good light. Day light is best.
3) Brush or Comb the hair first. You may find dividing the hair
into sections with clips etc. useful.
4) Start with the teeth of the detection comb touching the skin of
the scalp at the top of the head.
5) Comb through each section from the scalp to the ends of the
hair.
6) Look carefully at the teeth of the comb in good light and wipe
with a tissue.
7) Do this for as long as it takes to comb each section of the hair.
8) If there are head lice, you will find one or more lice on the teeth
of the detection comb.
9) Continue to comb through each section to remove any live lice
until no more are detected.
This will not remove ‘live’ eggs so you will need to repeat
every day in order to remove any newly hatched lice.
10) If you are going to use lotions DO NOT TREAT unless you are
sure you have found a living moving louse
