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Tag: head lice

  • Heidi Klum Receives Unwanted Gift from Children

    Heidi Klum received a most unwanted gift from her children earlier this month. She talked about the “gift” on a recent episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

    They didn’t give her flowers, or candy, or even a homemade piece of art. No, indeed. Heidi Klum’s children gave her lice–and sometimes it’s the gift that keeps on giving.

    “I’m actually lice-free now as of a few days ago,” Heidi Klum told Ellen on Wednesday’s show.

    “My daughter was itching and then she had to go to the nurse and then they looked and sure enough they found a little egg, and I mean they’re beyond small, so we had the lice fairies come over to our house,” she shared.

    Yes, Heidi Klum even used her imagination when ridding her children–and herself–of the troublesome bugs.

    “There are these fairies that come to the house and brush you for hours and get all of these lice out of your hair,” she joked. “They’re fairies. You do get a certificate from the lice fairies when you go to the school because the school wants to know.”

    Head lice are actually quite common in school aged children. They aren’t a sign of poor hygiene.

    Aside from being a nuisance, lice are harmless, too.

    What a nuisance it must have been for Heidi Klum to make sure she and all four of her kids were free from the pesky creatures.

    Heidi Klum shares children Leni, 11, Henry, 10, Johan, nine, and Lou, six, with ex-husband Seal, who is likely grateful he has no hair on his head. That no doubt helped prevent him from sharing Heidi’s gift.

  • Selfies Causing Lice Epidemic, According to Lice Removal Business

    According to the operator of a California-based lice removal spa, your teenagers are going to get lice because they’re taking so many damn selfies.

    Apparently, the epidemic has already begun. Heads have been pressed together, duck faces have been made, and your kid now has a head full of critters. Gross.

    “I’ve seen a huge increase of lice in teens this year. Typically it’s younger children I treat, because they’re at higher risk for head-to-head contact. But now, teens are sticking their heads together every day to take cell phone pics,” Marcy McQuillan told SFist. McQuillan represents a local lice removal service.

    Once again, a person that makes money from lice removal says that selfies are causing an uptick in case of lice in teens.

    While it’s true that selfies are more popular than ever, it’s highly unlikely that this so-called teenage lice epidemic is anything other than some sort of marketing stunt.

    “This is a marketing ploy, pure and simple,” Harvard School of Public Health’s Dr. Richard J. Pollack told NBC News. “Wherever these louse salons open a new branch, there always seems to be an epidemic. It’s good for business.”

    He says that for lice to spread from head to head, you’re going to need more prolonged contact than the time it takes to snap a selfie with friends. Or even multiple selfies with friends.

    In fact, head lice infestations is most common in kids aged 4-13. It’s not really a teenager issue, for the most part.

    However, if your teen does happen to catch some head lice, I hear that a good bit of twerking will clear it right up.

    Image via Miley Cyrus, Instagram

  • Head Lice: Should Kids With Lice Be Allowed in School?

    Head Lice: Should Kids With Lice Be Allowed in School?

    Some parents are outraged at the news that some schools are relaxing their rules regarding head lice. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, head lice infects between 6 million and 12 million kids ages 3 to 11 per year. This number could go up, though, since some schools have decided to no longer send home lice notes and let kids with lice stay in class through the end of the day.

    Most of the time, when a teacher discovers a kid has lice, he is sent to the school nurse and the parents are called. The kid stays out of school for a couple of days–or however long it takes to get rid of the lice–and the teacher sends home a note alerting parents to check their child’s hair because of the infestation. Not only does this single out the kid with lice and embarrass them, it also costs them education time.

    School districts in several states–including Nevada and Texas–have decided to skip out on lice notes and refrain from sending kids home for a couple of reasons, but mainly to avoid embarrassing the kids infested with lice.

    “Lice is icky, but it’s not dangerous,” says Deborah Pontius, the school nurse for the Pershing County School District in Lovelock, Nevada. Pontius also says that kids infested with lice have probably had them for anywhere from 3 weeks to two months, which means he has already spread the lice–all the more reason to avoid embarrassing kids. “It gets out who had lice,” Pontius said, adding that since parents of younger kids should be checking their heads for lice weekly anyway, there is no real need to send home the lice notes.

    Lesslie Sanders, a school nurse in Savoy, Texas says that sending kids home for lice is unnecessary. “The kids are always missing too much school and it’s not a health hazard,” Sanders said. “We call the parents, we talk about the remedies, how to fix it, also how to help the kids not get embarrassed. It’s just not a big deal anymore. It’s mostly just a nuisance,” Sanders added.

    This new policy does not sit well with a lot of parents. “I’m appalled. I am just so disgusted,” said Theresa Rice, whose 8-year-old daughter has come home from her elementary school in Hamilton County, Tennessee, with lice three times this school year. “It’s just a terrible headache to have to deal with lice,” says Rice.

    Parent Cissy Pennelle isn’t a fan of the more relaxed policy, either. “Children bring that home and then it becomes a deal of people being able to afford stuff to take care of it as well as take care of stuff in their home–it is a health hazard,” Pennelle said.

    Do you agree with more relaxed rules regarding head lice? Respond below.

    For equal parts entertainment and educational value, check out the head lice cartoon below.

    [Image via YouTube]

  • School Head Lice Policies Changing

    School Head Lice Policies Changing

    School head lice policies are being relaxed in several states, which has left some parents not too happy.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates there are between six to twelve million head lice infestations each year in the U.S., among children ages three to eleven. And now states including Florida, California, Nebraska, South Carolina and New Mexico no longer require educational institutions to send infested students home.

    Though head lice are harmless in reality, a lot of parents and pediatricians are opposed to the lax policy. Deborah Altschuler, head of The National Pediculosis Association, blames the updated policies for spreading the lice – “The new lice policy throws parental values for wellness and children’s health under the bus. It fosters complacency about head lice by minimizing its importance as a communicable parasitic disease.”

    Schools no longer are required to notify parents of lice problems in the classroom either, even if their child has a chance of being exposed. Reasoning behind the new policy includes privacy protection, protecting an infested child from embarrassment and to cut down on absenteeism.

    The head louse, scientifically known as Pediculus humanus capitis), is an obligate ectoparasite of humans, much like reality show production coordinators and roundworms, to an extent. Head lice are wingless insects that spend most of their life cycle on the human scalp, and feed exclusively on human blood. Other species of lice infest all orders of birds, and most orders of mammals.

    The American Academy of Pediatrics first updated the new guidelines in 2010, which recommend that the infested students didn’t have to leave their schools. The National Association of School Nurses also revised its policy in 2011, in alignment with the same idea

    High levels of lice infestations have also been reported in countries worldwide, including Israel, Denmark, Sweden, UK, France and Australia. Head lice can live away from the scalp, on soft furnishings such as couch cushions, on hairbrushes, or on coat hoods for up to 48 hours. While the CDC agrees that head lice are a nuisance and not easily eradicated, they don’t spread disease and are not a health hazard. The CDC also states that lice eggs, called nits, are “unlikely to be transferred successfully to other people.”

    The CDC also advises that parents with elementary-aged children should check their hair for lice once each week.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons.