Over the last few weeks we have had several students with head lice in the elementary school. Head lice are a small parasitic insects that live on the human head. They do not spread any disease but they can spread between people. Lice are NOT associated with having “dirty” hair.
To help limit spread of lice in the elementary school we are asking all parents to check their children for head lice weekly for the next 4 weeks and to treat if any lice are found (and please notify the school if you find any lice by email (nurse@isb.ac.th)). We are asking you to check weekly due to the fact that your child may only have a few lice initially and these may be missed on the original check.
How to check for Head Lice:
This will take 3-5 minutes to check your child’s head, depending on hair length and thickness.
- Untangle the dry hair using an ordinary brush and comb.
- Once the comb moves freely through the hair without dragging, switch to a detection comb (a fine tooth comb available at pharmacies).
- Starting from the base or the side of the scalp, comb the hair from the scalp down to the end of the hair. Comb each section of hair 3-4 times before moving to an adjacent section.
- Look for lice as the comb is drawn through the hair. The lice are brown and mobile. Adult lice are about the size of a sesame seed.
- If a possible louse is seen, trap it against the face of the comb using your thumb. This avoids the risk of the louse being repelled by static electricity as the comb is pulled out of the hair.
- Continue combing the hair section by section until the whole head of hair is combed through.
- At the same time look for nits (eggs) which are small and white-yellow and they are attached to the hair close to the scalp (viable nits are within 1 cm of scalp). They do not move and are difficult to remove.
For further information please look at this link (Checking for Head Lice). If Head Lice are detected please contact the Health Clinic (nurse@isb.ac.th) and information about head lice and treatment will be provided.
How to prevent head lice:
- Avoid head to head contact
- Do not share combs, brushes, hair accessories, towels and hats
- Long hair should be tied up or braided
- Spraying hair with diluted tea tree oil or put some tea tree oil in the conditioner
Thank you for your co-operation.
ISB Health Clinic
