Head Lice: What Parents Need to Know
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HEAD LICE Head lice affect many school-aged children and their families because they are also found worldwide in all different places. Indeed, it became a health issue that involves most homes and schools worldwide. However, although head lice may be a nuisance, they don’t cause serious illness or diseases.
WHAT ARE LICE?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), lice are parasitic insects that can inhabit people, whether on the head, body, or pubic area. These parasites feed on human blood. Therefore, lice can be attached to anyone’s hair regardless of if it is clean or dirty.
How to identify a Louse? Lice are wingless insects and are gray or brown creatures with six legs- When a louse is an adult, it is 1 to 3 mm long, similar to a sesame seed. Females lay eggs that hatch between seven and ten days later. Young lice are called nymphs, and it takes about ten days to become adults that lay new eggs called nits on the hair. These nits are white, and you may mistake them for dry or flaky skin. Unlike dandruff, nits stick to the surface, and removing them with standard shampoo is not possible.
SYMPTOMS AND CAUSES Although, according to many people, lice do not cause symptoms. They can make your scalp itch. This itching may be worse behind your ears or on the back of your neck. Likewise, if you scratch too much, the skin can become sore, and infections can occur. Other symptoms of lice infection include nits stuck to the hair as it grows and debris.
LICE Although anyone can get lice, they are ubiquitous among children between the ages of four and 11. It may be due to children keep close contact with each other at school. And girls seem to be more likely to get head lice than boys. Hence, you can only get lice through head-tohead contact; they cannot jump, fly, or swim.
If your child experiences a lice infestation, there are several treatments available: Insecticides A detection comb, either directly on dry hair or after the hair has been moistened with conditioner Products without insecticides
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