Head lice comb
Head lice comb

Head lice are no longer just a problem at the start of the school year. At school you receive reports all year round from classmates with head lice. Because of the intensive mutual contact there, head lice spread easily among children.

How can you get lice?

You can get head lice by contacting someone who has head lice. An infection with head lice has nothing to do with (poor) hygiene. Despite the best hygiene in your home, your child can suddenly be stuck with those critters. Contamination is possible by adult lice as well as by nymphs and nits (these are the eggs of the lice). A person is contagious as long as lice or live nits are present. Lice can survive up to 2 days without host and remain infectious. Nits can survive outside the host for up to 2 weeks.

  • Lice are transmitted mainly through hair-hair contact: the lice run from one head to the other. They cannot jump or fly. As soon as many people are together somewhere, for example at school or sports club, in the cinema or on the bus, head lice can easily spread. Children often get head lice because they literally put their heads together during play. Housemates of an infected child are also more likely to suffer from lice.
  • Contrary to what was previously thought, there are no indications for distribution via the environment, for example via hats, scarves, headwear, towels, bed linen, stuffed animals or via clothing when it is close together, for example on a coat rack at school.

How can you prevent lice contamination?

Preventing head lice can never be complete, but you can try to reduce the chance of infection as much as possible and, in particular, prevent further spread.
Away from its host, a louse can only survive 1 or 2 days. Recent research shows that contamination via objects belonging to the infected person (hats, comb, sheets, ...) is unlikely.

Check regularly

  • It is useful to check children in school every few weeks for the presence of lice with a lice comb or with the wet comb test.
  • Signals such as itching and scratching of the head can indicate the presence of head lice, but often people do not notice it at all.
  • If lice are spotted at school or daycare, check with everyone in the house (possibly also the grandparents or the nanny) if they have lice (and don't forget yourself!) With the wet comb test or with a lice comb. If you don't find any lice, repeat this combing with everyone once a week for at least two weeks.
  • Treat everyone with lice or viable nits at the same time with the wet comb method or a head lice pesticide. If only one child is treated, while another brother, sister or parent has lice, the child will have lice again in no time. Those who don't have lice should not be treated.
  • Notify your school or daycare center (and possibly also parents of friends) if your child has lice. Conversely, the school must inform the parents if lice are detected in class. It is of great importance that everyone who is infected with lice is treated simultaneously within the same class.
  • Check the hair after treatment for 14 days. Always repeat the treatment and certainly one more time when the lice return.

How should you check the hair?

As soon as you suspect that your child or someone else in the house has lice, or if lice are spotted in childcare or at school, you must detect and combat them as quickly as possible. There are three methods to detect lice: through visual inspection, inspection with a lice comb and the wet comb test. If you don't find any lice, repeat this combing with everyone once a week for 2 weeks.

1. Visual inspection
The fingers separate the hairs from each other and systematically search for the presence of lice. Lice are very difficult to detect in this way because:

  • most children only have a limited number of lice. (1 to 10 lice per head);
  • the dark lice hardly stand out in dark hair;
  • lice run away very quickly from every threat (they are slightly shy).

A lot of lice will go unnoticed with the visual inspection.

2. Inspection with a lice comb
With the classic lice comb you can systematically comb the hair, from the hair root to the hair tip. If your child has lice, they are plucked from the hair by the comb. With this method you will find four times more lice than with the visual inspection.

3. The wet comb test
The wet comb test uses water and conditioner in addition to a traditional lice comb (= balm, cream rinse). These additional means make this test much more efficient than the visual inspection.

How does the wet comb method work?

1. Your child is sitting bent over.

  • Make the hair very wet and possibly wash it with a regular shampoo.
  • Apply conditioner (cream rinse) on the hair (just apply, do not twist)
  • Comb with a normal comb from back to front until there are no more knots in the hair.
  • Comb with a lice comb from back to front (so from the neck to the forehead). Comb against the scalp (direction: start at one ear and slide a bit after every combing movement until you get to the other ear)
  • Wipe the comb on the kitchen paper after each combing movement and check for lice.
  • If there are lice in the comb, remove them with a toothpick.

2. Your child will now sit up straight.

  • Rinse the conditioner from the hair. Leave the hair very wet. The wetter the better.
  • Comb with a normal comb from front to back.
  • Comb with a lice comb from front to back (so from the forehead to the neck). Comb against the scalp (direction: start at one ear and slide a bit after every combing movement until you get to the other ear).
  • Wipe the comb on the kitchen paper after each combing movement and check for lice.
  • After treatment, put the comb in disinfectant (70% alcohol).

Hygiene

Head lice is not a problem of poor hygiene. For example, washing the hairs abundantly as a preventative measure is useless.

  • Treating furniture or carpets with an insecticide spray is completely useless because the chance that lice survive there is very small.
  • General preventive measures to reduce the risk of lice contamination, such as avoiding overfull coat racks, make little sense.
  • The effect of a lice cape on the spread of head lice has not been scientifically proven either.
  • In the event of an infection, it is useful to disinfect combs, brushes, pins, etc.: immerse for half a minute in water at 60 ° C or place in an alcoholic solution (alcohol 70 °) for one hour. No special disinfectants or insecticides are required.

Preventive use of anti-lice agents: not recommended

The preventive use of anti-lice drugs is not recommended. The active substances can irritate the scalp and cause itching. In addition, the lice can become resistant to the active substance.

Preventive lice repellents: meaningless

Various different means can be found in the trade to keep the lice away (lice repellents). Research has shown that these substances are not effective. Its use is not recommended.

Washing clothes and bedding: not required

Contrary to what is often recommended, it has not been proven that washing the bedding, soft toys, clothes, hats, scarves, etc., as warmly as possible is useful. The chance that lice spread through clothing is very unlikely. Also the vacuuming of home, car ... is no longer recommended.

Keeping children at home: not necessary

Children with lice should never be excluded from school or sports club. There is no evidence that exclusion from school is effective. The moment the lice are discovered, the child is probably infected for several weeks. A school should never suspend a student because of the presence of lice. The Center for Student Counseling (CLB) can, in consultation with the parents of a pupil with lice, decide that it is necessary that this pupil stays at home to make treatment possible. It is always about exceptional situations. Wearing a swimming cap when swimming is not necessary. Transfer of head lice via bathing water is very unlikely.