JACKSON, Miss.- With school starting just around the corner be ready for the word “lice” to be brought up more often.
If your child comes home with lice, don’t fear! There are a few things from Health.gov to know about the bugs that you might not have.
- It is not easy to catch lice. They’re less common than the flu, a cold, ear infections, pink eye, strep throat or impetigo.
- Lice can’t survive off of a human body, so once you get them off they will eventually die.
- It doesn’t matter how long your hair is, you could still be at risk to get lice.
- Head lice are only spread by head-to-head contact.
- It is more common to get head lice from family and overnight guests than from going to school.
- Regularly scheduled lice screenings do not actually reduce the potential for lice to spread.
- Head lice are specific to humans. Your pets won’t get it.
According to the Center for Disease Control, every year between six and 12 million elementary age kids get lice. That translates to 1 out of every 4 students. They are not a symptom of poor hygiene, in fact, lice prefer cleaner hair.
There is really no specific thing that attracts lice to people. Lice is spread by exposure.
Here’s a few tips to try and keep lice away from your kids in the coming school year:
- Don’t share hats, combs, hair ties etc.
- Also teach your kids not to share their nap mat or pillow at night while attending sleepovers.
- Organic herbs like rosemary, tea tree and citronella, the scent will repel the bugs.
