CDC clarifies unchanged school lice policy amid confusion

Students diagnosed with live head lice do not need to be sent home early from school.”

Centers for Disease Control

Despite recent social media posts to the contrary, the Center for Disease Control’s policy on the treatment of head lice in schools has not been altered, but that doesn’t mean students and parents shouldn’t still be wary. 

Guidelines published by the CDC in September 2015 state “students diagnosed with live head lice do not need to be sent home early from school.” 

In fact, according to Jason Lefevre, a spokesperson from the CDC, the guidelines for the handling of head lice in schools have been the same for the last 10 years. The organization believes confusion may have stemmed from a recent revamp of the CDC website, which included moving the guidance to the top of the page, making the information appear new. 

The full guidance states students in school, once diagnosed with head lice, may remain in school for the rest of the day and then must receive treatment at home before returning to school the following day. The reason for allowing children to stay in school, according to the CDC, is because head lice don’t have or transmit diseases, which means they are not health hazards.

However, the CDC also said school officials are capable of making the decision for themselves on whether students are sent home, it merely offers guidance based on the health risks of the infection. 

Head lice, although any one can become infected, are most common in school-aged children from ages 3 to 11. The CDC estimates anywhere from “six to 12 million infestations occur each year in the United States among children.” CDC data also suggests girls are more likely to become infected than boys and people of African-American descent are far less likely to become infected because lice are better at grabbing some hair shapes over others. 

At the Riverdale Temple Nursery School, the administration decides how to handle a case of lice at its discretion. Nursery school director Alexandra Abikzer said the school does adhere to the CDC’s guidelines but the school’s handling differs based on what is present on a child’s head upon inspection. 

The school offers programs for 2 year olds, as well as preschool classes for children ages 3 and 4. 

Abikzer said students can remain in school if they are found with nits but not if they are found with full grown lice. This is because nits are the beginning stages, the eggs of head lice, which are not nearly as contagious as full-grown lice, which can transfer from head to head.

Lice spread with direct contact from head to head, as lice don’t jump, only crawl. Lice can continue to live on someone’s head for 30 days but only survive off a head for 2 days because on a scalp they are feeding off of the host’s blood and die without food.

Nits, or lice eggs, take anywhere from six to nine days to hatch into young lice, referred to as nymphs, and take about seven days to mature into adult lice.

To avoid contracting head lice, it is recommended not to share clothing like hats, scarves, coats, sports uniforms or hair ribbons with an infected person, as well as avoiding sharing combs, brushes, towels or using the same
bed, couch, pillow, carpet or stuffed animal an infested person used. 

Upon recognizing a student has lice Temple Nursery School contacts parents to ask for the child to be picked up, but Abikzer said there’s never any rush because the school recognizes parents work and may not be available for immediate pickups.

Temple Nursery parents are also contacted if children are found with nits on their head. 

Abikzer said the school works with a city-based lice prevention and treatment company, LiceXchange, to perform school lice checks, and they offer the organization’s services to families with invested children.

Head lice and nits are not typically visible to the naked eye and a thorough scalp check with a fine-toothed louse comb is often necessary for a proper diagnosis. 

Various treatments are available and recomended for the management of head lice.

Many prescription and over-the-counter drugs are recommended to kill nits and lice, and there are other, at-home remedies available too.

The Mayo Clinic suggests combing hair that has been slicked with hair conditioner or olive oil with a fine-toothed louse comb to remove lice and nits. The process should be completed twice and then every three to four days for at least two weeks, with no lice found before the situation is considered remedied. 

Other suggested at-home treatments that are less effective include smothering the scalp in mayonnaise, olive oil, butter or petroleum jelly and leaving the product in overnight with a shower cap on to seal it in. This process will, in theory, suffocate lice.