Chemical lice treatment can be dangerous

December 8, 2011

Although hat and coat season sees a boom in head lice cases, the National Pediculosis Association (NPA) declares “Every Month is Head Lice Prevention Month” and recommends schools adopt a “No Nit Policy” and proactive community education as a standard in public health.
Pediculosis is defined as the state of being infested with or an infestation of lice. Although lice thrive on blood from the host on which they live, these small, wingless insects are not dangerous and can be seen with the naked eye. They are, however, very common and spread quickly from person to person when left untreated.
Lice lay their eggs or “nits”, which resemble dandruff, close to the scalp on hair shafts until hatching 1-2 weeks later. Normal brushing, washing or shaking will not loosen nits, but must be done with a fine, nit-removing comb. The NPA recommends early detection through periodic nit screenings as the best method of controlling lice, verses exposure to pesticides through chemical head lice treatments.
According to the NPA’s website, www.headlice.org, repeated exposure through repeated chemical treatments is potentially harmful and none are safe or proven to be 100 percent effective against lice, nits or nit glue.
The website also promotes “Jesse’s Project,” which was formed to protect children from chemical exposure through education and prevention tools. The project was named after 7 year old Jesse died from leukemia, which is believed to have been caused by over exposure to lice treatment chemicals.
Texas County Health Department Coordinating Nurse, Lisa Connor, explained, using a chemical treatment for lice, such as Rid or Nix, should not be used for a second application prior to 7-10 days after the first.
“It is a medication and is applied to the head and scalp, anything that can be absorbed into the skin goes directly into the blood steam,” Connor said. “It can be very harmful to a child, if overused, it can cause neurological issues, the most common seizures.”
Connor went onto say, if a product does NOT contain any medication or pediculocide, it can be used more frequently.
According to Connor, some smaller schools in the area, such as Hooker and Hardesty, have developed No Nit Policies, however, she believed Guymon Schools did not.
Guymon Public Schools Superintendent, Doug Melton said the school does mandate students with lice to be removed from the school until examined and cleared, by either the health department or a doctor of their choosing, to ensure the lice are gone. Melton also said, the method of treatment in which the lice are removed is the individual’s choice.
“I’ve been here 17 years and we’ve had lice every year, somewhere with in the school system and when we find out about it, we do the best we can, cleaning and sending notes home to help it from spreading at home,” Melton said. “The school’s policy states, ‘all nits do not have to be removed for the child to return to school.”
The NPA claims facilities without No Nit Policy provides a “hit-or-miss approach” to lice management.
According to the NPA, “Opponents of No Nit Policies say that ‘overzealous’ enforcement can lead to inappropriate exclusion of children with residual nits, but whose infestation has otherwise been treated.”
For more information about lice, nits chemical free lice removal or to read the full article about Jesse’s Project, visit the NPA website at www.headlice.org