Treating head lice – latest information from NSW Health

NSW Health has recently conducted a research project to find out more about head lice and effective ways of treating infestations. As a result, advice from NSW Health to parents and school staff has changed significantly.

Results of research show that:

• about 23% of primary students have head lice at any one time
• anyone can catch head lice regardless of their age, sex, or how clean their hair is
• head lice move from one person's head to another via hair
• head lice do not survive long when they are off a human head
• head lice do not live on furniture, hats, bedding or carpet
• head lice have built up some resistance to head lice treatments
• daily combing of hair using a fine tooth comb and conditioner is effective in getting rid of head lice and eggs (nits)

Advice for schools:

Advice from NSW Health indicates that there is no need for students to be sent home or excluded from school because of head lice.

Where one student has head lice this serves as a warning light that there is likely to be an infestation in either specific classes or across the whole school population, including staff.

The school will send a letter home to parents when infestations of head lice occur and request that parents examine their child's hair and undertake treatment where eggs or lice are identified.

Schools should encourage students to avoid head to head contact in group activities as far as possible.

In rare cases where students are experiencing a chronic head lice infestation the school, parents and the local community may need to work together to treat the infestation. Nitbusters has been found to be an effective whole school approach.

Nitbusters is a joint project between NSW Health, NSW Department of Education & Training (DET), and the Federation of P & C Associations. It aims to educate schools, children and parents about head lice and how to remove them. To be successful, treatment must be community-based and ongoing. Nitbusters achieves this by treating an entire school in one Nitbusting Day and teaching school communities how to manage treatment in the future.

Nitbusters is aimed not so much at eradicating head lice as, more realistically, at identifying and managing them. Nitbusters tries to educate communities through schools about the most effective ways to reduce populations of head lice.

For information on how to organise a Nitbusters day in your school visit NSW Health.

Please Note: We have been advised from NSW Health that school's parent group can decide to implement their own way of handling this issue at the local level (e.g. send children home from school if they have head lice). This is only acceptable if the majority of parents and staff agree to the solution. 

Tips for parents in reducing the spread of head lice:

• regularly check your children's hair
• teach older children to check their own hair
• tie back and braid long hair
• keep a fine tooth head lice comb in the bathroom and encourage all family members to use it when they wash their hair

As infestations are particularly common in primary schools, it is best to choose a treatment that can be used over time. There is no single solution to eradication, only persistence.

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