By Bethany Bray
Several students at four elementary schools in Andover have tested positive for head lice, prompting e-mails to parents of the town's youngest schoolchildren.
Rita Casper, director of nursing services for the schools, sent e-mails home to elementary parents on Tuesday, Dec. 1, asking them to check their children for lice and keep them home if infected.
Lice, known medically as pediculosis, are parasitic insects that survive on humans by feeding on human blood.
Occasional lice infestations occur in public schools, and regular checks for head lice are done by school nurses. said Thomas Carbone, Andover's director of public health.
"Head lice is fairly common. People get embarrassed by it, but it's something that's an inconvenience," said Carbone. "We do worry about it. It's an illness, it's a bug. Nobody wants it on them, and nobody wants to have to deal with it."
Carbone said he did not know which of Andover's four elementary schools had lice cases.
School policy requires students to be free of lice and their eggs, called nits, before returning to school, said Casper in her e-mail. Any child reentering school after having lice is double-checked by the school nurse.
Additional information on pediculosis can be found at www.cdc.gov/lice
Lice advice:
Lice do not have hind legs to hop or jump and do not have wings to fly, but are easily acquired, even on the cleanest of heads, as they spread from person to person by direct contact or on shared objects.
Lice and their eggs, or nits, are tiny, oval, white or grayish specks attached to individual hairs. Unlike dandruff, they will not brush off. Lice are usually tiny, gray/brown insects that move quickly (but do not jump or fly).
A doctor or pharmacist can recommend effective lice-removal shampoos and products.
Because no shampoo or other treatment product kills all the nits (and survivors hatch into crawling lice in 7-10 days), it is very important to remove all nits from the hair by hand to prevent reinfestation.
Machine wash all infected clothes, bed linens, blankets, towels, etc., in hot water and dry in a hot dryer for at least 20 minutes. If heat will not harm them, non-washables can be put in a hot dryer for 20 minutes. Items that cannot be safely washed or put in the dryer (such as headphones, helmets or stuffed animals) should be stored in a tightly sealed plastic bag, at room temperature, for at least 14 days.
Clean all combs, brushes and hairclips by soaking in hot water (at least 150 degrees) for 10 minutes.
Vacuum your entire living space to pick up any live lice or nits attached to fallen hairs. Thoroughly vacuum carpets, pillows, mattresses, upholstered furniture, car seats, etc., and discard the vacuum bag promptly.
Recheck for nits daily for 10 days following treatment. If new nits or lice are found, repeat treatment. As lice treatment products can be harmful if used too often, check with a pharmacist of physician before reusing any of them. The use of lice sprays can be harmful to people and pets.
Source: Rita Casper, RN, director of nursing for Andover schools
