Is lice in schools a big deal anymore? Maybe not, say medical groups

TAMPA — School was still a month away but Taylor Huff, 32, got nervous when she discovered she and her teenage daughter had head lice. Turns out, she might not have needed to be so concerned.

After weeks of shampooing with oily concoctions, she gave up and spent $140 a pop for her and her daughter Maci, 14, to spend an afternoon at the Lice Away Today salon in South Tampa, where a heated gadget worked across their scalps to erase the nits.

The bug has long been the bane of every parent and school district, as those nits stubbornly cling to hair follicles and defy attempts to wash, spray or blow them away. Yet new advice from top medical organizations say we have gone overboard when it comes to lice.

The Centers for Disease Control has reversed its longstanding advice and both the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Association of School Nurses now urge school districts to stop their “no-nit” policies, which say that a child has to be free of nits before returning to school (both Hillsborough and Pinellas have such a policy). It is unnecessary, they say, and way too disruptive for students and families.

According to a study conducted by Nix, the lice shampoo and prevention company, 66% of parents were unaware of this shift and another 28% of parents admitted to concealing their child’s lice diagnosis in the past.

“I have had patients who have missed school for a week or more over this and it’s totally unnecessary,” said Dr. Isabel Hendrickson, chief pediatric resident at John Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg.

Some myths about lice persist: They don’t jump. They crawl. That means if you are sitting a foot away from someone with head lice, you are in no danger of getting a bug. They are mostly spread through sharing beds or hats or hairbrushes.

Also, they don’t spread disease, which is another reason the CDC sees no reason to disrupt a class or a child’s school year.

Yet the no-nit policies persist.

Although Hillsborough County has one, it is not as onerous as years past, when a letter would be sent home, boys would get buzz cuts and everyone would gossip about the kids who had head lice.

“We don’t do lice checks until the end of the school day, so none of our students get sent home and we don’t notify the parents unless three or more children have been found to be affected, and that’s rare,” said Tanya Arja, spokeswoman for the Hillsborough County public school system.

Those changes have helped eliminate the panic that used to be common when one child was found with head lice and the whole class was went into a tizzy, Arja said. She noted that changes in technology have made it easier to get kids back in school within a day or two.

Michelle Cherry is the owner of Lice Away Today, which specializes in removing head lice using a heated instrument similar to a blow dryer that dehydrates and kills the lice.

She was prompted to open her business 11 years ago after going through a “nightmare” with her own child, going through shampoos that didn’t work, and washing and bagging bedding, pillows and stuffed animals to do away with the pesky bugs.

“There’s lots of disinformation. That’s why you hire a professional,” she said as she carefully combed the thick brunette hair of Macy Morris, 14, who missed the first day of high school at Clearwater Central Catholic.

Lice are about the size of a sesame seed. They feed on human blood, so their bites cause itching. But they do not transmit any disease, and therefore are not considered a health hazard.

Unnecessary days off cause a burden to students, families and communities, and are not justified by the risks associated with head lice, the pediatrics association said in a statement. Also, misdiagnosis of nits is very common during nit checks conducted by nonmedical professionals, they said.

“It’s more of a stigma than a medical issue,” pediatrician Hendrickson said she tells her patients.