Head lice cases tackled at Hurley K-12 school

By RALPH ANSAMI

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Hurley — There have been eight cases of head lice in the past few weeks in the Hurley School District.

Zona Wick, of the Iron County Health Department, said precautions are being taken to hold down the number of students contacting lice at the K-12 school. She said the cases have been occurring in the lower elementary students, from kindergarten through third grade.

“The smaller children like to touch and hug each other and it's commonly found in the lower grades because they have so much direct contact,” Wick said.

She said health department employees and teachers generally don't become infested with lice.

An effort among school officials, the health department and parents is being made to eradicate the lice. Wick said it can be difficult, however, to thoroughly clean a house and the lice can spread from nits in a child's headband in the home or at the school.

She praised school employees for a doing good job of cleaning and separating the children's clothes.

“We're working hard at it,” she said.

Wick said last year the Mercer School District had a bad lice problem, but this year there have been no cases there.

There's a stigma attached to lice, but Wick said, “It has nothing to do with people being dirty.” She said the nits can come from just about anyplace.

Wick said head lice can spread through indirect contact with lice-carrying objects such as combs, brushes, hats or scarves.

Nits (louse eggs) are laid by adult lice. It can take from two to three weeks for a person to notice the intense itching associated with pediculosis.

Without a blood meal, head lice can survive only about six to 24 hours.

Combs and brushes used on infested persons should be immersed in hot water, Lysol, rubbing alcohol or a lice-killing chemical for one hour.

Floors, rugs, pillows and upholstered furniture should be thoroughly vacuumed. Clothing and linen handled by an infested individual within two days of

being diagnosed with head lice should be washed in hot water or machine-dried at the hottest setting for 20 minutes. Other articles may be dry cleaned or sealed in plastic bags for at least 10 days to destroy lice and eggs.

Parents should perform regular lice checks on the scalp of children who attend school and day care centers, especially when excessive itching is noticed.

There are many medicated shampoos commonly used to treat head lice. Shampoos or creme rinses containing 1 percent permethrin have the fastest killing time against adult lice and the highest nit-killing capability, Wick said.

Permethrin has a residual effect that will continue to kill nits for several days after the first application. While one application should be sufficient to kill lice and nits, some experts suggest a second treatment a week after the first.

Shampoos that contain pyrethrin kill lice quickly, but do not leave a residual that will continue to kill nits.

Manual removal of nits with a comb, fingernails, or by cutting strands of hair that contain nits is essential following treatment with pediculocides or alternate treatments. To aid in removal of nits, hair can be soaked in a 3 percent to 5 percent white vinegar solution, followed by application of a damp towel

soaked in the same solution for 30 to 60 minutes before attempting nit removal.