Prevent the spread of lice

With lockdown restrictions slowly being eased and now being on level two, many parents are sending their children back to nursery school as they go back to work. While the main concern may that your child may contract the Corona virus from day care, there is something that you shouldn’t forget worrying about -lice. Head lice are a very common problem, affecting millions of children across the world. They are especially common in kids between the ages of three and 12 years.

Why you should worry

Lice are small, wingless parasites that feed on tiny amounts of blood, which causes the itching, skin irritation and sometimes infection or inflamed. Although lice aren’t dangerous and don’t spread disease, they are contagious and spread through direct head-to-head contact. Even though lice are very small, they can be seen by the naked eye. So, what do you do when your child comes back and they have lice?

Follow these easy steps

If your child gets lice or you hear of a lice outbreak in your school or area, follow these tips:

• Check your child’s hair carefully to see if he has lice or nits. If the hair is plaited, undo it and check in hidden areas of the hair.
• If you do find lice, wash your child’s hair with non-toxic lice stop shampoo and use the comb to extract the remaining lice and nits. You can find this at your local pharmacy.
• After you’ve washed your child’s hair, use a no-lice preventative spray to get rid of any remaining lice and to protect your child’s hair from further infestation.
• Keep your child out of school if possible and inform your child’s school about the situation to prevent further infestation.
• Warn other parents of the outbreak as well.
• After a week, wash your child’s hair again with the anti-lice shampoo and spray it with the preventative spray to kill any lice from nits which were not removed the first time.
• Try to avoid contact between your child and his friends for at least ten days to avoid spreading the lice.