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Head Lice Fact Sheet

 

As students return to school and are routinely checked for head lice, detection and treatment of the problem increases – including over treatment and treatment with chemicals that can be dangerous or harmful to the health of the person being treated.

Having head lice in the United States can result in:

• social embarrassment

• loss of days at work or school

• the need for costly lice treatments that increasingly are reported not to work or to cause side effects.

Parents, day care providers, school officials, and healthcare professionals often call the Oklahoma Poison Control Center to seek advice about how to treat head lice. Head lice can be annoying but rarely, if ever, cause harm except for itching and loss of sleep (they are more active at night). They are not known to transmit any infectious agents from person-to-person.

What is Head Lice?

 

Head lice are small parasitic insects that live mainly on the scalp and neck hairs of their human host. Head lice do not imply a lack of hygiene or sanitation and are mainly transmitted by direct head-to-head contact with an infested person's hair. They may rarely be transferred with shared combs, hats, and other hair accessories. They can remain on bedding or upholstered furniture for a brief period, however head lice cannot survive off their human host beyond 24 hours.

 

 

 

A louse hatches from its egg after about 8 days of development, and begins to feed, grow and develop until it attains the adult stage about 9-12 days after hatching.

 

How do I treat Head Lice?

 

The greatest concern the Poison Center has is the harm associated with the well-intentioned but misguided use of caustic or toxic substances to get rid of the head lice. If one member of the family is infested, all other family members and close contacts should be examined. Treatment should be considered only when active lice or viable eggs are observed. Sometimes dandruff, hair spray droplets, scabs, dirt, or other insects have been confused with head lice causing unneeded alarm.

The Oklahoma Poison Control Center recommends using over-the-counter products approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), primarily pyrethrins or permethrin-based products. It is important to take the time and use an effective metal lice comb to remove nits (eggs) and dead lice. The comb should be cleaned frequently. Eight to ten days after the initial treatment, a second treatment using the same over-the-counter formulation should be used to ensure that nits are killed after hatching. If live lice are still present after (2) over-the-counter treatments, second line therapy requiring a prescription is needed.

 

The Poison Center warns parents to use caution when dealing with any insecticidal agent, particularly on children.

 

 

• read and follow all the instructions on the package insert or on the package label

• do not apply any insecticide or other chemical not specifically labeled for use on people

• mayonnaise, petrolatum, olive oil and mineral oil have not been adequately studied, so their effectiveness is unknown

• more importantly, the use of kerosene, gasoline, paint thinner, turpentine, or industrial or garden pesticides is dangerous and should be avoided. Well-intentioned parents treating their children with toxic or flammable substances have caused several deaths and poisonings

 

Home Environment

 

• because lice rarely live off their host for more than 24 hours, excessive housecleaning is not necessary.

• routine cleaning is recommended that includes washing recently used clothes, towels, and bedding in hot water at 130 degrees Fahrenheit or drying on high heat.

• stuffed animals do not need to be placed in plastic bags for several weeks, however, if the child sleeps with a specific animal or blanket, thorough washing in hot water (130 degrees Fahrenheit) or high-heat drying is adequate.

• parents should clean the child's combs, brushes and other hair care accessories in hot water. These items should not be shared.

• spraying an insecticide on furniture, rugs, or pets is not recommended.

 

If you have questions about how to treat head lice, contact your physician or your pharmacist for more information.

You can also visit www.hsph.harvard.edu/headlice.html where Richard J. Pollack, Ph.D. public entomologist at Harvard School of Public Health has information about head lice.

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The Oklahoma Poison Control Center web site is provided free of charge to the public as an informational and educational tool. This web site is NOT intended as a substitute for a consultation with the Oklahoma Poison Control Center. The center is a statewide program operated by The University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy in cooperation with Children´s Hospital at the OU Medical Center. Our pharmacists and nurses are specially trained poison experts available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

"We note that poison control centers are health care providers for purposes of this rule. We consider the counseling and follow-up consultation provided by poison control centers with individual providers regarding patient outcomes to be treatment. Therefore, poison control centers and other health care providers can share protected health information about the treatment of an individual without a business associate contract."
   -Federal Register Vol.65, No. 250: p. 82611 (pdf)