HEAD LICE – TREATMENT
Pediculosis capitis (head lice) is common in children and may occur in adults. The louse lives only on the head and is passed from person to person but may also be transmitted by hats and towels. It spreads rapidly through schools and kindergartens and then through families.
The louse is only 2-3 mm in size and difficult to see. Its eggs or nits, attached to hairs, may be more easily seen.
Treatment of all children in the class and all family members is usually recommended. Benzyl benzoate lotion and gamma benzene hexacloride as a shampoo are effective and cosmetically acceptable. Malathion is also used.
The nits are firmly attached to the hairs and encircle them so that they need to be pulled along the length of the hair to remove them. Special fine nit combs are available to clear the nits from the hair. It is not necessary to shave the head or cut short the hair.
The pubic louse usually spreads through sexual contact but may be spread by infested clothing or towels.
Although confined mostly to the pubic hair, these lice may be found elsewhere in the hairs under the arms, on the abdomen or even in the eyebrows and eyelashes.
These lice are killed by the same chemicals which are used for head lice.
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