Head lice are difficult to get rid because even though they
only have a life span of around 30 days each - one can lay up to 300 eggs! They
also cling tightly to the hair shaft and are difficult to remove by hand but
can be removed by wet combing. Your health visitor or nursery/primary school
teacher will be able to give you more advice about wet combing.
The only way head lice can spread from one host to another is
by close head-to-head contact. Often in school children, this is the case since
they play and spend time close together.
Additionally there are no preventative treatments to stop your
child getting head lice
A
Nits are also known as head
lice. They are parasites so they feed off the host they attach onto. They feed
by sucking blood from the scalp and inject a substance to stop the blood from
the scalp clotting so they can suck it up. This is the substance that can cause
the itching which is often the only time you notice the infestation. As they are
parasitic they can not survive without a host so once they are taken from their
host they die. Consequently head lice can not live in hats or towels or other
articles of clothing.
