Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/dealing-with-head-lice-in-group-settings/5022968/
Of the infectious diseases children can come down with, one of the most feared, though least serious, is head lice. It strikes fear in the hearts of parents and child care providers alike, mostly due to concern for stigma that the child or worker is ‘unclean’ and that ‘everyone will know.’
Description and Lifecycle
The head louse itself is 2-3 mm, or about the size of a sesame seed or grain of rice. It has six legs and is usually tan to grayish-white. Although people think it jumps between people, it actually has to have direct contact in order to infect another person. Since the head louse feeds off of blood, once removed from the scalp, it dies within one day. It lays eggs, up to 10 per day, and the eggs are tightly attached to the hair shaft. They may look opaque or may be disguised with pigment matching the hair color of the infested person. The eggs hatch in about 8-9 days. Once hatched, the nymph leaves the shell casing behind then takes 9-12 days to become an adult. The female then mates and can lay eggs about 1.5 days after becoming an adult. Females live up ...