Hilarie: That itchy feeling

Sep 27 2008 by Hilarie Stelfox, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

EVEN writing the words ‘head louse’ makes me feel itchy. But not as itchy as the discovery a few years ago that we had a family infestation.

The Offspring were furious – especially as they’d escaped the pestilence during their many years at primary school only to succumb at secondary school.

As the head lice arrived in September following the arrival of new Year 7s we put the blame fairly and squarely on them.

My father, who was a primary teacher in a deprived area back in the 1970s, said he was amazed that – given living standards had improved so dramatically – such infestations still erupted. He blamed the end of the ‘nit nurse’ service.

We got rid of our problem with the use of a high-tech electronic comb and the liberal application of a hair conditioner containing things that head lice don’t like.

And that was the end of it.

But I know families whose children’s heads have been a magnet for lice. One friend used to do the conditioner comb-through every week with her two daughters.

But clearly there are parents and carers who never do such things and that’s why in the 21st century lice are still an issue. Apparently, one in seven children has head lice at any one time. Scratch, scratch.

A recent survey of 2,000 people by the makers of a head lice treatment found that 75% of parents want tougher action on head lice. As many as one third would like to see children sent home from school if they harbour persistent infestations. One in five want families to be named and shamed if they fail to deal with the problem.

The difficulty with this is how do teachers decide who has nits and who doesn’t. And, is it fair to ostracise innocent children?

Bringing back the nitty nurse would seem to be the ideal solution – inspection for all and someone to police treatment. But I don’t suppose that’s going to happen any time soon.

In the meantime here’s a few lousy myths:

Lice don’t like short hair. Not true as they live close to the scalp and can exist in the shortest of hair.

Lice don’t like dirty hair. In fact, they’re not bothered either way – clean or dirty.

You can catch lice (nits are the larval form of the insect) from brushes and towels. Not likely because they need contact with their food source to survive.

Lice fly or jump from head to head. Actually they can only be passed by direct head to head contact.