Lice Shouldn't Keep Kids From School, Doctors Say

By: Rachael Rettner Published: 04/27/2015 04:30 AM EDT on LiveScience Head lice are annoying, but they don't actually make people sick, and children with the condition should not be kept away from school, according to new guidelines from a leading group of pediatricians. The guidelines, from the American Academy of Pediatrics, say that although head lice can cause itching, they are not known to spread disease, and the insects are not very likely to spread from one child to another within a classroom. Rather, it is usually direct head-to-head contact that spreads lice. For this reason, "no healthy child should be excluded from school or allowed to miss school time because of head lice or nits," the guidelines say. (Nits are the eggs of head lice.) Most doctors who care for children agree that school policies requiring children to be free from nits before returning to school should be abandoned, the AAP says. In addition, screening kids at schools for head lice does not reduce the occurrence of the condition in classrooms over time, so routine screenings at schools should be discouraged, the AAP says. However, parents should still regularly check their children for head lice, and school nurses may check children who have symptoms of lice. [The 10 Most Diabolical and Disgusting Parasites] For treating lice, a reasonable first choice is to use over-the-counter medications that contain 1 percent permethrin or pyrethrins (types of insect-killing chemicals), the AAP says. Par...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news