Lice Information

An estimated 6 to 12 million infestations occur each year in the United States, most commonly among children ages 3 to 11 (CDC). This page can help you learn how to identify lice and what you can do if lice is found in your home.

Here are some facts about lice:

Lice cannot fly or jump. They crawl.
Lice cannot live on pets.
Lice are nocturnal
Without human blood, a louse will die within 48 hours.
Some people have no symptoms even though they have lice. Others will begin to itch with the first bug.
Adult lice can lay up to 8-10 eggs a day.
Lice have a lifespan of around 30 days.
6-12 million cases are reported each year.
Over 80% of school districts in America report at least one outbreak of head lice each year.
More children will have lice this year than will have the common cold.

*Hamilton Township School District enforces a "no-nit" policy. If your child is sent home from school with nits/lice, the nits/lice must be removed before returning to school. Upon return to school the parent must accompany the child into school to be re-checked before entering the classroom.

Here is how you can check for lice:

In a brightly lit room, look through the hair and scalp for eggs and live lice. Do this by slowly looking through 1 inch sections of dry hair row by row starting at the base of the neck and moving forward toward the forehead. Focus on the hair closest to the scalp. The nape of the neck is a common breeding area for lice. A chopstick or a wooden pencil will help you to part the hair each time. Look on both sides of the part paying close attention to the hair within an inch of the scalp. If you are not sure about what you find, place it in a plastic zip bag and take it to healthcare professional/school nurse.

You are looking for two things:

Nits (eggs) are tiny greyish-brown "pussy willow bud" shaped ovals that will not come off of the hair very easily. Usually they are attached to the hair shaft very close to the scalp (if you blow on them and they don't move they are probably nits) If you have nits, you need to do a full treatment.
Live Lice (bugs) are small brownish-grey insects. They move very fast, so chances are you won't see them. If you find lice, you need to do a full treatment.

Treatment:

Please follow directions by the Centers for Disease Control, found here, for effective treatment of head lice. Over the counter and prescription treatments are available. Please contact your doctor or pharmacist for specific product recommendations. Note that suffocating head lice with mayonnaise, butter, or similar substances is NOT an effective treatment.