Head Lice are crawlers, they cannot jump or fly. They have 6 legs and no wings. They live only on human heads and you cannot catch them from a pet.

Head lice feed from the scalp every two hours and will die from dehydration within 24 hours if unfed. They only reside on the scalp when feeding, where the skin is thinnest, and most of the time they are about one to two centimetres up the hair shaft.

Unlike most other human parasites, head lice cannot transmit disease and a head lice infestation more often causes social embarrassment and isolation rather than medical complications.

Today the head louse is making a comeback after a number of relatively quiet decades. ^1,2 In Australian schools head lice infestation rates of up to 35.1% have been published^3,4 with head lice the third most commonly reported outbreak in day care centres after diarrhoea and conjunctivitis. ⁵

Although largely a condition of childhood and most commonly affecting children aged 3-11 years,² a head louse infestation can be passed from child to parent, student to teacher, sibling to sibling, or from any prolonged head to head contact. ⁶

Lice infestation is not indicative of poor hygiene and affects all socio-economic groups.

Lice infestations occur year-round, but peak seasons are centered around back to school times.

References

<sub>1. Chosidow O. Scabies and pediculosis. Lancet 2000;355:819-26.
2. Roberts RJ, Burgess IF. New head-lice treatments: hope or hype? Lancet 2005;365:8-9.
3. Speare R, Buettner PG. Head lice in pupils of a primary school in Australia and implications for control. Int J Dermatol 1999;38:285-90.
4. Speare R, Thomas G, Cahill C. Head lice are not found on floors in primary school classrooms. Aust N Z J Public Health 2002;26(3):201-11.
5. Jorm LR, Capon AG. Communicable disease outbreaks in long day care centres in western Sydney: occurrences and risk factors. J Pediatr Child Health 1994;30:151-4.
6. Nash B. Clinical review: treating head lice. Brit Med J 2003;326:1256-9.</sub>