Head lice is one of the prevalent parasitic diseases among children. We hear about it in schools and kindergartens. In order to prevent it, you should regularly check your child. But what should you do in case your child has lice?
Let’s begin with understanding what a louse is:
- First of all, it is a human parasite and does not appear out of nowhere.
- They do not jump nor fly.
- Nits (the eggs of the head lice) are laid by alive lice and attached to the side of the hair.
- In 7-10 day the nit will hatch, and in another 7-10 days female louse will lay new eggs. Nits are the size of a sesame seed, white-yellow, clear colour when hatched, oval-shaped. After feeding they turn into red-brown colour. In 30 days up to 100 eggs can be laid.
- Lice live up to a month and cannot survive without human blood for more than 24 hours.
How does lice spread?
- By direct contact with the head/hair of an infested person.
- By sharing such items as hair brush and hair ribbons, hats, towels, pillows.
- Cannot be spread in the water.
How to treat lice?
- There are a number of medical products, which you can get at the pharmacy. They cannot be reused due to the possibility of resistance.
- After using one of the products, screen the head of the kid manually and remove the rest of the nits. None of the products will remove all of them, the only way is to do it yourself. It is crucial to remove all of them!
- Check your whole family for lice.
- Vacuum clean your place, mattresses, car.
- Put bed sheets and similar items in a tumble dryer for 30 mins.
- Clean hair brushes, hair ribbons and similar items by soaking them in hot water for 10 minutes.
- Tie back your child’s hair (if it is possible).
- Pregnant women and infants should not use products for lice treatment.
- Continue the consistent check.
Make checking for lice part of your hygiene. The sooner you detect it, the easier the treatment will be!