New Head Lice Data - OldDude Institute for Head Lice Studies

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So I get a parent request to check her daughter's hair for head lice; said she doesn't know what to look for but her daughter said her head was itching - and she has big, thick, hair. I was just getting ready to call it as clear and I spied a louse fleeing from the inspection area. I grabbed the trespasser and placed it on a legal pad I had on my desk; to observe for scientific purposes. At first the louse would scurry about but would stop at the edge of the legal pad so I was leaning toward stating louse had depth perception and would avoid vertical surfaces. But eventually the louse did climb over the edge and onto my desk. Which led to my new head lice data. I scooped the louse from my desk back onto the legal pad and noticed it had landed on it's back; it's little legs flailing in the air. This went on for 10 minutes until I flipped the louse over and it returned to scurrying about on the legal pad. I again flipped it back over onto its back and, again, legs flailing but no luck in turning itself over. So the new scientific data is head lice is in the ranks of the turtle. They cannot right themselves if on their back without assistance or if they are on a slick flat surface with nothing to grab onto. Mark your calendar, you heard it first right here on AN...OldDude Institute of Head Lice Studies.

Specializes in LTC, Psych, Med/Surg.

Just reading this thread has me itching literally everywhere! Argh...

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My family gets on my case because I refer to the local cockroaches as my friends. I thought I had hit the jackpot when I observed one who could fly. Wonder why he, (or she), and only he, (or she), could fly from all the friends I've made at the local roach dive.

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So I guess I'll share the millions of federal grant dollars for this study with you. I'm saying 50% of the test subjects will be dead before you go home tomorrow.

8 of 9 had perished by 3:45, the 9th passed sometime overnight.

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8 of 9 had perished by 3:45, the 9th passed sometime overnight.

We will be in mourning all day.

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Specializes in Peds, Neuro, Orthopedics.
No, I stuck it on a piece of clear tape so mom would know what to look for. She didn't even want to touch it after it was encased in the tape.

LOL! Does mom not have the google machine at home?

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Specializes in ICU; Telephone Triage Nurse.

Cockroaches do the whole whacky, waving, flailing, inflatable tube-man thing too when stuck on their backs.

We found a GIANT beast in the med room one day stuck on it's back, waving all it's hairy little legs screaming for a bit of help. We trapped it under a specimen cup (feeling brave) then high-tailed it out of there and called for housekeeping. A little bitty thing showed up and I felt real bad - however she was a practical young lady with more grit than all of us combined (some of our number were men): she raised the cup, lifted her heel and squashed it.

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Specializes in LTC, Rehab.
Cockroaches do the whole whacky, waving, flailing, inflatable tube-man thing too when stuck on their backs.

We found a GIANT beast in the med room one day stuck on it's back, waving all it's hairy little legs screaming for a bit of help. We trapped it under a specimen cup (feeling brave) then high-tailed it out of there and called for housekeeping. A little bitty thing showed up and I felt real bad - however she was a practical young lady with more grit than all of us combined (some of our number were men): she raised the cup, lifted her heel and squashed it.

Nah, I bet it wasn't giant compared to some I saw in the Yucatan. :^)

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Specializes in Cardiology, School Nursing, General.

My nephew got lice last week! No one else had it at home, but him. We cleaned him up as much as we could and started treatment. I called the school nurse and told her about it so she could possibly check the other students or check him for me. But she said she's not allowed to do that anymore, which I found weird because I get to do that in my school and check other kids hair if another student had it, but I have to send a letter home first to the families about it so they can check themselves first before I do.

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Specializes in ICU; Telephone Triage Nurse.
Nah, I bet it wasn't giant compared to some I saw in the Yucatan. :^)

I bet you're right.

My favorite clinical instructor, a critical care clinical instructor, told me more than 20 years ago me she & her girlfriend lived in Hawaii for a bit of time. They lived in a building that had an insane number of floors - they lived on the 27th floor I believe. She said HUMONGOUS roaches used to fly onto their patio. They called them "747 roaches". Shudder …

But for Tucson ours was a fairly large specimen. Big enough to be able to turn it's head to watch you check it out taking it's measure - and it had a discernable face!

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Specializes in Pediatrics Retired.
My nephew got lice last week! No one else had it at home, but him. We cleaned him up as much as we could and started treatment. I called the school nurse and told her about it so she could possibly check the other students or check him for me. But she said she's not allowed to do that anymore, which I found weird because I get to do that in my school and check other kids hair if another student had it, but I have to send a letter home first to the families about it so they can check themselves first before I do.

I posted this information a couple years ago - "BA" - Before Amethya...The nurses in our district were resisting doing classroom head checks over 10 years ago. The district was still on the fence until, one day, they were visited by an attorney representing parents of one of our elementary school kids alleging an illegal search of the student's body and negligence on the school nurse's part for "touching" the child's head without health concerns for the child; associated with a classroom head lice check. Nothing ended up in court but that compelled the district to discontinue classroom lice checks. Lice prevalence has remained unchanged since we discontinued doing classroom head checks. School district policies like your's arise from the district being under the thumb of the hysteria driven public. Head Lice were taken off of the communicable disease chart for conditions to be excluded from school by the Texas Dept. of Health.

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Specializes in Cardiology, School Nursing, General.
I posted this information a couple years ago - "BA" - Before Amethya...The nurses in our district were resisting doing classroom head checks over 10 years ago. The district was still on the fence until, one day, they were visited by an attorney representing parents of one of our elementary school kids alleging an illegal search of the student's body and negligence on the school nurse's part for "touching" the child's head without health concerns for the child; associated with a classroom head lice check. Nothing ended up in court but that compelled the district to discontinue classroom lice checks. Lice prevalence has remained unchanged since we discontinued doing classroom head checks. School district policies like your's arise from the district being under the thumb of the hysteria driven public. Head Lice were taken off of the communicable disease chart for conditions to be excluded from school by the Texas Dept. of Health.

BA... xD

Thanks for the information! I thought it was weird because when I was a child I remember the nurse checking us in class, with our heads down. But that was YEARS ago.

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Specializes in School Nurse. Having conversations with littles..

We will always need to keep educating "our people". Who better to do it than us! I have a perfect example that I have been able to make some strides in the right direction.

This really happened last week:

One of my secretaries to me: Hey, so and so's teacher got a text from someone who wants to remain anonymous, that YOU need to check her head for lice. (No other information given. As she told me, I could tell that she thought this was not going to fly very far with me)

Me: I have to have a reason to check a student. I cannot just pull one out of class randomly.

Secretary: I know. But, I was supposed to pass that along to you.

Me: Tell the teacher that if she happpens to see the student scratch her head a little extra. To send her to me. Other than that, no way.

Teacher sends the student to me 2 times for minor things. Never once did she mention her head itching. So, both times, I sent her back to class, after I addressed what her actual complaint was.

At the end of the day. The secretary asked if I had checked the student. I said nope, that the teacher sent her to me 2 times for minor things; but I never had a reason to check her head. The secretary said..."I told the teacher that you just can't randomly check kids anymore."

My thought bubble was saying: YAAAAAAAAAAY! I have made some progress! 

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