School nurse helps families understand lice

"I do not like head lice," said Virgie Simmerman, LPN, at the Saline County Circles meeting Tuesday, Dec. 1, "and I will do everything in my power to break the head lice cycle."

Simmerman first explained some terminology about lice. Lice is the plural of louse, which is a small, quick, parasitic insect that cannot jump or fly, and the name for a louse's egg is a nit. Head lice feed off of the blood in the human scalp and can be passed from person to person through direct head-to-head contact or sharing of combs, hats or bedding.

Head lice, Simmerman said, are very contagious.

These lice can live for up to two days without nourishment from consuming blood, she said, and they cannot live on household pets, so if a family experiences an infestation, there's no need to shampoo the family dog. It is also unnecessary to spend a lot of money to rid the home of lice.

Head lice are most commonly found on children between 3 and 12 years old, especially girls, she said, because girls tend to have longer hair.

"Check your children's hair once a week until they go to college," Simmerman said.

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