After the summer and autumn holidays it is often hit: head lice at school. They often seem like epidemics. It seems like children get lice more often during the holidays, but that is not so. It is only discovered more often after the summer and autumn holidays, as most schools check for head lice.
Lice are difficult to combat, because they are increasingly resistant to head lice agents. In addition, head lice are very contagious. But according to the RIVM, you no longer have to turn the whole house upside down to combat them. Combing and washing would be enough to treat head lice and nits.
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Head lice is not dangerous, but it is annoying. It can be horrible itching get it. If your child has it, it will probably be your turn after a week. Because head lice are very contagious. Head lice are mainly transmitted hair-to-hair. They can walk from one head to another during a hug or kiss. The first eggs hatch after a week. In a month, a louse lays about 250 eggs. Then the animal dies.
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Washing does not help
Did you know that washing your hair does not help against head lice? They love dirty as well as clean hair. Moreover, they can survive well in water. Therefore, check your child’s hair regularly. Lice eggs (nits) look a bit like roos: they are gray-white grains or dots in the hair. The difference is that dandruff is loose, while lice eggs are stuck to the hair.
The lice themselves are more difficult to find because they move. They are about three millimeters in size and have a gray-blue or red-brown color. A reddish brown louse just sucked blood. You can see them well if you comb the hair over a white sheet of paper or over the sink – preferably with a special lice comb.
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Lice control
Although many schools often carry out a lice check after holidays, it certainly doesn’t hurt to check your child for head lice every now and then. You do this as follows:
- Apply a generous amount of conditioner to the hair and do not rinse.
- Comb tangles and knots out of the hair with a brush or comb.
- Tilt your head over a sink.
- Comb the hair from back to front with a fine-toothed comb, close to the skin. Start at one ear and after each comb movement, move a little towards the other ear.
- To check for lice in the hair, wipe the comb regularly on a white paper, napkin or a handkerchief in between and check for lice.
- Rinse out the conditioner.
Does your child have head lice? Don’t forget to check your own hair and that of any other family members. In addition, report it at school and to other parties involved, such as parents of friends, the babysitter or the sports club. Others may also be infected. You do not have to leave your child at home, but it is important that all infected persons are treated at the same time. Otherwise they can infect each other again.
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This is how you get rid of lice
– Comb every day for two weeks with a nits comb (this will catch both lice and nits). Daily combing out the lice and nits (dead or alive) prevents nymphs that have hatched in the meantime from growing into adult lice and thus prevents new eggs from being laid. Use conditioner for painless combing. If necessary, you can loosen stuck nits by dabbing a cloth with vinegar on the hair.
– Comb every day for two weeks with a lice comb and use an anti-head lice remedy. This method has been proven effective. There are many resources on the market. Preferably choose a means where dimethicon in it: this is a means against which the louse cannot become resistant.
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Transmission via combs, hats, coats, caps, scarves, headphones, stuffed animals and bedding has never been scientifically proven, according to RIVM. Therefore, measures such as washing bed linen, stuffed animals and coats and vacuuming the car are no longer necessarily necessary. The lice cape is also qualified as superfluous. It is best to emphasize combing, possibly in combination with a treatment of the hair with an anti-lice remedy.
It has also not been scientifically proven that head lice are not transmitted by linen or combs. If you want to err on the side of caution, you can still take the above measures.
Prevent head lice
Although the RIVM questions the scientific nature of the spread of lice via brushes, coats, scarves, caps and the like, it does not hurt to take the following measures to prevent lice if necessary:
– Do not lend brushes, hats and the like.
– Hang coats on coat hooks at least fifteen centimeters apart (lice cannot jump).
– Give your child a plastic bag to hang their coat and hat or have them use a lice cape.
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For this article we collaborated with Gezondheidsplein.nl. There you will find many more articles on health, checked by doctors and medical specialists.
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