Head Lice

Overview on Head Lice

• Head lice are tiny insects resembling a flat ant about the size of a sesame seed when viewed using a magnifying glass.
• It is unlikely you will see adult lice. Most often you will encounter ‘nits’, lice eggs that appear like dandruff.
• Human head lice feed on human blood,.
• Easily transmittable when there is head-to-head contact with a person who has head lice. You may still get lice regardless of how clean your hair is.

Signs & Symptoms

• Scalp tickling and itching
• The eggs (nits) appear pale or white at the base of hair and cannot be removed easily
• Skin infections can occur with continued scratching. See a doctor if you notice any signs of infections such as:
• Weeping or crusts on skin
• Mild fever
• Swollen glands

Self-Care

Do not scratch

• Continued scratching can result in skin infections (see Signs & Symptoms).

• Detection combing – physically detect nits using a louse comb (see Mechanical Removal).
• Shining a flash light on hair roots can aid detection of nits – nits appear gray and are difficult to spot.

• Complete shaving is not necessary.
• Hair only needs to be cut to 1 inch or less

Mechanical Removal

• Initially, relieve knots/tangles on wet hair using an ordinary comb or the wide-tooth section of a louse comb.
• Dip the louse comb in vinegar first to loosen the nits.
• Then comb inches of hair from the roots to the ends using the narrow-tooth section, checking for nits after each pass.
• After the completing the whole head, treat combs with insecticidal shampoo for 2 hours.

Prevention of infection/ re-infection

• Avoid sharing pillows, combs or hats
• Wash hair regularly
• Wash combs/brushes in hot water for 10 minutes.
• Using detection combing, regularly (every 10 days) check your child for nits on hair, behind ears, eyelashes or at the back of neck.
• Be observant when your child scratches his/her head very frequently.
• As soon as you are aware your child has lice, trace and treat those who have been in close contact.

Treatment

Treat only when head lice or nits are detected. Do not use head lice treatments regularly as a form of prevention.

Consult a pharmacist to choose the most appropriate head lice treatment.



Malathion (e.g. )

• As effective as other agents
• Left on for at least 8 hours
• Repeat with the same or another medication if lice remain 7 days post-treatment.

• A combined preparation, A-LICES, which consists of malathion 1% and sodium benzoate 0.5% is available for adults and children over 2 years old.