Head Lice in Schools
People of any age can catch head lice, however they are most common in children, particularly those of primary school age.
Head lice are passed through close head to head contact, which often occurs between children in schools during close work and play. However head lice are not a just problem of school and can be caught just as easily in other social and family situations. The primary responsibility for the detection and treatment of head lice lies with the parent/guardian of the child, not the school, however the information in this section may be useful in how the school can deal with a head louse infection.
The ‘Head Lice Alert Letter’
There has been some debate over whether or not an ‘alert letter’ should be sent out to inform parents of the presence of a head louse infection in one or more of its pupils, and policies are now in place in many schools.
Argument FOR using an ‘alert letter’
- An important step in the control of a head louse infection is contact tracing. As head lice are passed through head to head contact, it is quite possible that lice may be passed between classmates at school. If a parent comes to the school to report an infection as part of the contact tracing process, a letter may be useful in disseminating this message to other parents.
Argument AGAINST using an ‘alert letter’
- Alert letters can lead to the perception that there is a serious ‘outbreak’ of head lice leading to alarm and unwarranted concern. In reality, there may be a few children in the school with head lice at any one time and ‘alerts’ to this situation on individual occasions can give a distorted message.
If you decide to use an ‘alert letter’, you may want consider using something along the lines of this example document.
Should children be sent home from school?
There is no logical reason for children with head louse infections to be sent home.
- It is likely that the child has been amongst classmates with the infection for days, if not weeks.
- Furthermore, being sent home from school does not ensure that the child will be cleared of an infection.
- Finally, the presence of a head louse infection is not a public health threat and it should not be treated as one.
What else can the school do?
Whatever the school decides to do, there should be a consistent approach to the issue of head lice infections throughout the school or, if possible, throughout all schools in the area. Any protocols should be written with the advice of the School Nurse.
- Education on head lice is key to the appropriate control of head louse infections. You may want to consider arranging regular talks for parents, for teachers and for children. Your School Nurse should be able to advise you on this.
- You may wish to remind parents about the need to regularly carry out detection combing to catch infections early. You can use the ‘newsletter’. to do this.
- For further advice on treating specific cases of head lice infections, always refer parents to the school nurse, local pharmacist or other healthcare professional.
Education
Click here to download an infants educational colouring in poster.
Click here to download a juniors educational colouring in poster and question sheet.