SURVEY REVEALS BULLYING AT SCHOOL DUE TO HEAD LICE OUTBREAKS

  UK children are being bullied and missing school because of the embarrassment and torment caused by head lice.

One in 10 parents said their child has been the victim of cruel jibes as a result of having head lice, according to a new study.   But it’s not just children who are suffering – 15 per cent of parents said they had felt victimised by teachers because of infestations.

The common ailment is also leading to children taking days off school – with one in five parents having kept their child at home because of infections. This means the average child has not attended school for at least one day per term due to head lice.

Children are reporting name calling and parents of those who are infected admit it’s difficult for their kids to forge friendships as other kids don’t want to sit next to them in class whilst they have a ‘flare-up’.

The survey revealed that almost three quarters of children in the UK have had head lice with a quarter having had more than five infections.

An embarrassed 12 per cent of mums have lied to other parents about their kids having head lice, eight per cent kept family members in the dark and 13 per cent have denied the fact their child has lice to the school or teacher.    Over two thirds of parents seek help from their Pharmacy, but 12 per cent were so concerned with the problem they took their child to the GP. And the average parent spends about £10 a year to cure their kids from the infection.     Forty-three per cent of parents didn’t have a clue what the difference was between head lice (the parasite) and nits (the empty eggs shell), leading to problems for parents detecting and treating head lice correctly.    Almost sixty per cent of adults were in agreement that head lice outbreaks are becoming more frequent – with two-thirds of people believing that girls are more prone to the problem than boys.

Weird remedies parents have used to try and rid their child of head lice include washing their hair in vinegar, beer, honey and mayonnaise.    There is no need for children to take time off school and it’s extremely disconcerting that so many children are getting bullied as a result of infections, which can so easily be treated.    Head lice can affect anyone at anytime in their life, and despite popular belief are attracted to both clean and dirty hair. With the right treatment and application, head lice can easily be eradicated.

Pharmacist and mother of two, Louise Cruickshanks¹, added: "Head lice outbreaks are very common where children closely interact such as school and pre-school, meaning that the lice can easily spread through head to head contact.

"Common reasons for failure to treat head lice is misdiagnosis, or if parents have not used the product purchased correctly. It is also common to be re-infected if in close contact with someone else who still has a head lice infection. Head lice infections cannot be prevented due to how children interact on a daily basis, there should certainly not be cause for embarrassment. Parental discussion and acknowledgement play a key part in removing the stigma of head lice infections in this country.

"I have had a personal experience of head lice infection with my two children. Correct usage of effective products such as Full Marks Solution, quickly and easily treated the infection for both my children, eliminating both the head lice and their eggs.  

15 million lice head back to school

Did you know that as many as one in four children between the ages of 4 and 12 may be infested with head lice at any one time?¹  That’s over 1.5 million UK schoolchildren carrying over 15 million lice on their heads!  And with one in ten mums never checking their children, that’s a lot of undetected head lice.

According to a study mums are trying everything from tea tree oil and vinegar to shaved heads and baby lotion, to combat this growing problem.  But the facts show that head lice, the most common human parasite, are still on the increase and these persistent little pests are not fussy – they love clean or dirty hair. Head lice are spread by direct head-to-head contact and contrary to popular perceptions, they can’t fly or jump but for their size, they could certainly give Kelly Holmes a run for her money.

One in five mums in the survey believed that a child with head lice is open to being teased or bullied.  Three-quarters questioned came up trumps for vigilance, checking their children’s hair for head lice at least once a month, and over half are checking every week as is recommended.  On the other hand, the survey found that one in ten mums had never checked for head lice, giving these bothersome bugs a chance to multiply at a rate of 300 eggs in a lifecycle

Sources:

¹ Downs AM, Harvey I, Kennedy CT. The epidemiology of head lice and scabies in the UK .  Epidemiology & Infection. 1999; 122 (3): p.471-477.  Study found that a quarter of school children in the UK had head lice.  Applied to statistics from 2006 Marketing Pocket Book

*TNS survey information August 2006

(Lyclear - for headlice)

  (5/9/06)