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Original poster

to think it is ridiculous that in todays Britain schools have head lice problem?

172 replies

judyta101 · 15/01/2017 15:20

The head teacher in my DS school regularly sends out letters: 'head lice alert!', 'check your child's hair today for unwanted visitors'. DS who is now 7 got head lice twice in the last six months - first time I had to google it as never seen it before. I was terrified and run fast to the nearest chemist. We moved to the North West over a year ago, but also had the letters in previous school in South Wales.
I have lived in the UK for long time now, but I was born and brought up in Eastern Europe, went to school in the eighties, heard someone had head lice once or twice, it had never spread, never been a problem. Never heard about it at the university or the school I was teaching at.
I asked my SIL (a retired teacher) about it - she laughed it off saying her granddaughters (teenagers now) get it now and again too.
Is it so common and normal that it's just a part of a school life? Am I unlucky to live where it is a problem? Are people not bothered by head lice?

OP posts:
Twinkladdictmum · 16/01/2017 00:13

I think your friend is right. We hardly sold any to strongly afro carribean areas. Best selling area was Wigan and Skem...

TeethDrama · 16/01/2017 00:15

judy I meant when you were a child, when you felt there was not a problem with head lice then! How would you know that only the one or two you heard of was the only ones who had it? Maybe there were lots more that you didn't hear about. (is what I meant). They didn't send generic letters out then, you were combed by the nit nurse (in my school at least) and only those specifically affected received a letter to parents about it, otherwise you didn't hear anything.

Batwomanrisesagain · 16/01/2017 00:31

My daughter has them constantly, I treat, she catches again almost immediately from her best friend who has wild curly long hair that is never tied back. Her mum treats with the shampoo but never combs so they never go. It's got to the point I'm considering discouraging the friendship.

daddyorscience · 16/01/2017 00:42

it's a continual with my kids too..usually DD(6). I condition and comb through, their mum in theory does too..although she told me last week DD had them but "wouldn't let her deal, so I'd have to".

DS never gets them, long blond hair. Same school. Assuming it's one of DDs friends...problem disappears in the holidays!

geekymommy · 16/01/2017 02:13

Head lice have evolved in the last 30 years, and become resistant to some treatments that used to be more effective against them. It's the same idea as bacteria evolving antibiotic resistance.

It's also possible that some treatments used 30 years ago in Eastern Europe have since been found to be unsafe.

If we're talking about a former Communist country, they were not generally known for being open and honest with people about risks- they didn't want to tell their people about the radiation risks from Chernobyl, for example. I could see a Communist country of that era keeping head lice out of the news. There also were not nearly as many ways to get news 24 hours a day then, anywhere. Just because you hear about it now and didn't then doesn't mean you can conclude that it wasn't happening then.

Head lice don't transmit diseases from one person to another, that's body lice that do that.

GoldenWorld · 16/01/2017 02:34

I think you're unlucky to live where it's a problem. I had them once aged 13, caught them off a friend who had a brother at primary school. I assume she caught them off him. She had black hair but you could easily see them in her hair.

I don't remember anyone at my primary school in the 90s having them but I was terrified of getting them and used to make my mum check my hair religiously every week. My niece is 7, has never had nits and none of her friends have had them, nor is it a problem in her school. She's in the south east, maybe it's a nw problem? ;) But seriously, I thought it was well known that headlice are more resistant to conventional treatment that some parents still use I guess.

Witchend · 16/01/2017 03:31

Growing up.in the 80s, dbro had them, me and dsis never did.

Until last summer dd1 had caught nits twice (once school, one holiday club), dd2 once (school) ds never. They'd had one treatment and sorted.

Last summer dd1 had about 6 weeks where w were constantly treating. She had (note the word had) thick thigh length hair, which would take a bottle each treatment. First treatment we used they were clearly immune. We combed daily and treated regularly. I suspect one of her friendship group had them and she was getting reinfected.

But as it wasn't a problem until last summer it clearly is the fault of Brexit and is only going to get worse.

BratFarrarsPony · 16/01/2017 07:06

it is definitely a problem in the south east - my kids were crawling.

Original poster
judyta101 · 16/01/2017 09:21

TeethDrama
I never had them, nor did my sister, my cousins or my friends. I can only guess that if there was a case of headlice it was dealt with quickly and properly so it didn't spread.

OP posts:
Twinkladdictmum · 16/01/2017 09:37

One of my twins gets them, the other doesnt. They are together 24/7, including the bathGrin but one has wiry hair. Their softer haired siblings dont get them either.

pickledparsnip · 16/01/2017 09:53

Bobo don't be a twat. Kids who have headlice aren't "filthy." Fucking hell.

My boy got them in Reception for the first time. He had a bit of an itchy head because he had some old chicken pox scabs that were bothering him. When I heard lice were going around the school, I checked his hair with a Nitty Gritty comb and there the little fuckers were. I was horrified. Turns out the scabs weren't the only things bothering him.
Since then I check every week.

Last Summer was horrendous. It took 3 weeks of combing every day (often twice) to get rid of the little fuckers.

Thankfully since then he's been clear. It takes regular combing though to keep on top of it. He has thick wavy hair.

pickledparsnip · 16/01/2017 09:54

I know loads of parents who have never checked their kid's hair. They're sure their little darlings don't have them. Well I had no idea ds had them either til I had a look with a proper comb.

BadKnee · 16/01/2017 09:54

Did nobody else pick up the implied "British schools have lice but Eastern European schools don't" tone of the post?

Would it have been jumped on if it had said "Eastern European schools have lice and British schools don't" ?

The reasons for the problem have been pretty much explained on here - and include a number of factors from longer hair and lazy parenting to resistance to treatments. The thing is it only takes one child whose parents don't bother and everyone gets infected again - so it is a pretty hard problem to deal with.

I doubt we will solve it by co-operation - there will always be someone who does not think it concerns them. If it gets bad enough we will eventually introduce stronger measures - that's how it works.

WorraLiberty · 16/01/2017 10:02

Yes BadKnee, that's why I asked the OP which country she grew up in but she must have missed my question.

Also, if the OP had to Google headlice, she can't have been combing regularly as parents are advised to do - therefore her child could very much have been the source of the class outbreak.

At least she knows now to check regularly and what to look for.

SheSaidNoFuckThat · 16/01/2017 10:10

I'm sorry but constantly having nits is filthy - not saying lice only like dirty hair etc, but it's basic hygiene practice when you have kids, give them a hug, quick scan of their hair (I have boys so easily done), comb them through everyday......... it's not doing it that makes them filthy.

Also, my school told me they can't notify the parents, even when the child is visibly crawling with lice as it comes under discrimination laws Hmm

ghostyslovesheets · 16/01/2017 10:15

Regarding treatment resistance- that applies to some lice and pesticides

Treatments like Hedrin do not contain pesticides- they work differently and lice can't become resistant

Don't stop treating!

PenelopeFlintstone · 16/01/2017 10:18

Judyta - there was a thread a couple of weeks ago on MN about how many, many British adults also never had nits when we were young, including me. Now, that I've got kids I've caught nits from them multiple times. I think it's the chemical resistance: a friend of mine put nits in jars with about 5 different nit treatments (one in each jar) and the nits did not die!

Niskayuna · 16/01/2017 10:22

People here don't know how to treat them (I mean, if they don't ever Google it.) It's a popular myth that you chuck headlice shampoo on once and that's it - done - and you can then go back to complaining your kids 'keep getting them' even though it's the same infestation.

Nobody reads the lotion manual, nobody checks actual advice. It's about as much use as the guidance that going out with wet hair will give you a cold.

Until people learn to treat it properly, it's not going to go away.

And yes, there are some parents who genuinely don't care. I know of a TA who is struggling to get anything done about two or three kids whose hair, very pale blonde, is riddled with lice and you can literally see them quite plainly at her hairline. One parent can be seen idly picking at the child's scalp and flicking the lice into the grass. They do not care.

ghostspirit · 16/01/2017 10:24

Having head lice is not nice for the person
But it's not filthy. Even with the nit combs it's hard to get all of the lice and eggs. The child could have been 100% deliced and still come home that day with moregards lice. People can do the best for their own kids but they can't control what other parents do.

They should have a nit nurse like back in the day. But that won't happen.

BadKnee · 16/01/2017 10:24

OP - what do you do on a regular basis to ensure your children are lice-free?

ghostspirit · 16/01/2017 10:26

When my kids get it we have to treat the whole family. Some do still work I find the over night ones work best. But they are bloody exspensive. I know there is wet combing but I'm not convinced that works to well.

SheSaidNoFuckThat · 16/01/2017 10:27

It's the parents neglecting to to check their kids and then those not treating that is filthy. If it was an animal with a flea infestation you could be done for animal neglect .......

fourkids · 16/01/2017 10:31

People here don't know how to treat them...Nobody reads the lotion manual, nobody checks actual advice

Really? NOBODY reads labels? NOBODY checks advice? Everyone here except you is basically a bit of a twat?

BadKnee · 16/01/2017 10:33

You know what Niskayuna meant. Nobody and everybody are recognised ways of expressing the idea of high numbers.

And she is right - a lot of people don't - or we wouldn't have such a widespread problem.

pickledparsnip · 16/01/2017 10:41

SheSaid a quick scan and a comb through doesn't cut it. You have to sit and comb through the whole head thoroughly. I looked through my son's hair and brushed it when he had lice, but didn't see any til I used a Nitty Gritty comb.

It's not filthy. Kids can be bathed regularly, with soap and shampoo and still have them.