Fight against lice

Not only do Children return to school these days: lice , those unwanted insects, also return to the classroom. This year the General Directorate of Public Health is sending an extensive report on how to prevent parasitation and, in case of registering a case, how to treat it without having to miss class.

“Mom, a child in my class has dropped a louse on his head on the desk and we have all been able to see what it was like and how it ran,” he told his mother Guillem, 8 years old and a student at a school in Barcelona , one day of the last course when you get home.

The experience, sensational from the point of view of the child and his companions, served to inform them that Lice are insects that live between the hair. They are about two millimeters long, they are gray, they do not have wings, they feed on the blood they suck from the skin of the head when they bite people and reproduce quickly.

It is estimated that each female lays one hundred to three hundred eggs, called nits, which are white and strongly attached to the base of the hair. It takes seven to ten days for the egg to hatch and the larva to develop.

This year the General Directorate of Public Health has prepared a comprehensive report to send copies to all families of all children of school age in Catalonia.

The main message that emerges from the report is that they do not wait for cases of parasitism to register but act on alert from the beginning of the course, carefully and periodically observing the heads of their children and treating them, if necessary, in a effective.

The main symptom of the parasitization, according to the report, is the itching of the scalp, caused by the irritation of the saliva that the insect deposits in the small wound of the bite that it makes to suck the blood with which it feeds. The irritation becomes so intense that, when scratched, skin peeling and bacterial infections can occur.

Know the symptoms

How to know if the itch is a symptom of the presence of the parasite? It is necessary to check if there are nits (they differ from dandruff and seborrheic scales in that they have a pearly brilliance and are attached to the hair and it is difficult to extract them) attached to the base of the hair or, more rarely, live lice can be identified .

The regional public health technicians recommend checking the hair a minimum of twice a week, preferably behind the ears and on the nape of the neck, and doing it with the help of a magnifying glass and under good lighting.

The danger of contagion is real and, apparently, very probable, because it spreads easily among people in conditions of close coexistence as is the case of homes, schools or nurseries.

Especially avoid sharing combs, brushes, hair ornaments, hats, scarves, towels or handkerchiefs because this is the main route of infection (lice do not jump or fly). Transmission is possible as long as there are live insects in the infected person or in his accessories and until all the nits have been eliminated.

To prevent it, you should carefully comb the hair two or three times a day and, as a general hygienic measure, wash the head with soap and water two or three times a week, at least.

“The preventive use of insecticide products is not recommended in people not parasitized” and “if any person discovers that they have lice, it is necessary that they communicate it to those around them so that they can check if they also have and take preventive measures,” Bold type in the report of the technicians.

The treatment of parasitized children consists in applying an insecticide preparation (they are sold in various types in pharmacies), strictly following the instructions of each product, as many times as necessary until all the lice are killed.

To remove the nits it is enough to rinse the hair, after washing it, with a mixture of water and vinegar and then pass a comb with very fine quills and remove them with your fingers.

It is evident that the combs and brushes must also be cleaned with the same antiparasitic preparation, and the articles of clothing of the affected person can be washed with very hot water. On the other hand, it is important that, in schools, all parasitized students are treated simultaneously, since contagion can occur between affected children not treated and children already treated.

How to fight them

Apply an antiparasitic containing 1 percent permethrin (best in cream or gel).

Apply it for 30 minutes with dry hair before washing with a normal shampoo and repeat the operation two days in a row at night.

After washing, remove the nits (with comb and by hand).

Wash all the affected person’s clothes, bed linen, stuffed animals, towels … in the washing machine, with detergent and very hot water.
Wash the combs and brushes with the same antiparasitic, leaving them to soak for an hour (they must be their own and not share them).

Perform a new application of the two-night treatment seven or ten days after the first administration.

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