• Lice

     
     
    No Live Lice Bremerton School District requires the student to be sent home with directions for the parent to treat pediculosis(Lice) and removal of ALL LIVE LICE as a condition of readmission to school. The student's head must be examined by school district staff to assure all Live Lice are removed before the student is readmitted to class. Benefits of complete nit removal are:
    • It prevents self re-infestation and transmission to others during the 7 days prior to the second treatment.
    • It decreases or eliminates the eventual need for a second treatment, thereby limiting exposure of young children (and possibly their pregnant or nursing mothers) to pesticides.
    • It eliminates diagnostic confusion and serves to document treatment for school nurses.
    • It equalizes the efficacy of pediculicides, permitting the use of less-toxic products.
    Lice are parasitic insects that can be found on people's heads, and bodies, including the pubic area. Human lice survive by feeding on human blood. Lice found on each area of the body are different from each other. The three types of lice that live on humans are:
    • Pediculus humanus capitis (head louse),
    • Pediculus humanus corporis (body louse, clothes louse), and
    • Pthirus pubis ("crab" louse, pubic louse).
    Only the body louse is known to spread disease.Lice infestations are spread most commonly by close person-to-person contact. Dogs, cats, and other pets do not play a role in the transmission of human lice. Lice move by crawling; they cannot hop or fly. Both over-the-counter and prescription medications are available for treatment of lice infestations.

    Incubation Period
    Eggs normally hatch in 7-10 days. Mature head lice are capable of multiplying in 8-10 days after hatching. Their egg-to-egg cycle is about 3 weeks. Eggs do not hatch in temperatures less than 70 degrees.

    Period of Communicability
    As long as lice or eggs remain alive on the infested person or in their clothing or on household surfaces, lice are communicable. Lice do not live long away from a human host and most will die within 6-15 hours. Eggs may survive for up to 10 days.
     
Last Modified on October 24, 2016