The National Pediculosis Association (NPA) encourages parents to work as a community during back-to-school and send their children to their classrooms free of pediculosis, a communicable disease.
NEWTON, Mass., Sept. 1, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — September is National Head Lice Prevention Month! No matter what the school policy or other more pressing public health issues in the news – head lice infestations known medically as pediculosis, can be extremely challenging for the people who have them. The NPA encourages parents to work as a community during back-to-school and send their children into the classroom free of pediculosis, a communicable disease.
Routine screening and early detection with a comb should be the parental “go to” prevention tool, striving always be the first to detect lice and eggs in their child’s hair. https://www.licemeister.com/how-to-comb. This is the surest way to avoid the “Your child has lice” phone call from school.
Mumcuoglu, et al. reported: “Diagnosis of louse infestation using a louse comb is four times more efficient than direct visual examination and twice as fast. The direct visual examination technique underestimates active infestation and detects past, non-active infestations.” Moreover, the FDA acknowledges combing not only as a stand on its own treatment method, but also as the safe alternative to the toxic risks of chemical/pesticidal treatments. This is important progress for FDA which approved pesticides for treating lice losing sight of the fact that it’s not about treating lice but about treating children who are infested with them.
The NPA offers even more clarification for parents with its 12 important tips to avoid misleading information. It’s called the Deceptive Dozen. Everyone needs to be aware of misinformation on this subject and there’s a lot of it. https://www.headlice.org/comb/what-are-head-lice-and-nits/the-deceptive-dozen/
There’s never a need to miss a minute of school when parents check ahead and identify and remove head lice and nits early, when there are less of them. The fewer children arriving to school with head lice, the fewer children giving them to others. “Because it’s not about lice, it’s about kids.”
The National Pediculosis Association®, Inc. (NPA) www.headlice.org is a 501 c 3 non-profit volunteer organization, including scientific advisors dedicated to protecting children and their environment from the misuse and abuse of prescription and over-the-counter pesticide treatments for lice and scabies. Proceeds from the LiceMeister® comb allow the NPA to be self-sustaining, independent of industry and accomplish its mission.
Contact Information
Deborah Altschuler
NATIONAL PEDICULOSIS ASSOCIATION
@TheLiceMeister on Twitter!
npa@headlice.org
(617) 905-0176