Graham Memorial Preschool sent home a flyer today explaining there was a child that had evidence of head lice. The preschool received this information anonymously and are not able to identify the class. So, we checked our son who attends Graham Memorial Preschool (619-435-2182) and our child has head lice. After consulting with a few Coronado parents, there were additional cases of lice as well.
We also checked our 1st grader who attends Village Elementary (619-522-8919) and she also had head lice. We have reported our children’s cases to both schools so they can alert the parents and teachers.
At RightAid, we bought RID (http://www.ridlice.com/) and applied it to both kids. We are also going to treat ourselves even though we don’t have any signs of head lice. After treatment it says that the child is no longer contagious.
Additional information from About.com.
Please pass this on to other Coronado families/parents and take action to stop the spread of head lice on Coronado.
What You Need To Know
* Don’t Panic About Head Lice – Unfortunately, the first reaction for many parents in dealing with head lice is to panic. Panicking is not going to kill the head lice though and will likely lead to over-treatment and anxiety in your child who may be concerned that they have “bugs” in their hair.
* Nits hatch in 7 to 10 days and develop into an adult in another 7 to 10 days which can then lay more (up to 100) eggs. So it is important to remove all of the nits to break this cycle. Also, since anti-lice shampoos don’t usually kill nits, you have to usually retreat the child in 7 to 10 days to kill any newly hatched lice.
* Children are often misdiagnosed with head lice because they have hair casts that resemble nits, or they have dead or empty nits that are far away from the scalp. If you think your child has lice but you don’t actually see any live lice, see your Pediatrician to confirm the diagnosis.
* Be careful before trying ‘alternative’ treatments, like mayonaise, vaseline, olive oil or Tea tree oil. Although they are ‘natural’ treatments, they are untested, and products like mayonaise can be hard to get out of a child’s hair (dishwashing is supposed to make it easier though).
* Alternative medications for resistant lice might include Ovide (malathion, an insecticide), Lindane, the antibiotic Bactrim (which kills symbiotic bacteria inside the lice), Ivermectim, or using Elimite, a stronger version of Nix which is usually used to treat scabies.
* Ulesfia (Benzyl Alcohol Lotion 5%) was recently approved to treat children over six months of age with head lice. Unlike other head lice shampoos which are mostly pesticides, Ulesfia is a water-soluble gel that works to suffocate head lice.
* Do your homework or see your pediatrician before treating your child with multiple remedies. This head lice information sheet at the Harvard School of Public Health and the The National Pediculosis Association are great sources of detailed information on head lice infestations.
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