Students with head lice should be allowed to go to school, a new report says.
They shouldn’t be kept from the classroom, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
Instead, families should instead be offered educational programs to help them understand how to manage head lice.
“Head lice are an unpleasant part of the human experience, but they can be successfully managed and are no reason for a child to miss school,” Dawn Nolt, MD, lead author of the report, said.
The report advised schools that have a “no-nit” policy — which are the eggs that lice lay — to ditch them and allow kids back in class.
“A child or adolescent should not be restricted from school attendance because of head lice, given the low contagion within classrooms,” the report says, stating that implementing “no nit” policies may “violate a child’s or adolescent’s civil liberties” and suggesting these policies are “best addressed with legal counsel for schools.”
The report noted that nits don’t necessarily mean a lice infestation and that keeping kids from school can be detrimental to both the child and caretaker.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also recommends students that have live head lice shouldn’t be sent home and be allowed to return to the classroom the following day after treatment.
The AAP noted that lice are usually spread through head-to-head contact — not by “jumping” from one person to another — and can also be spread through touching the belongings of a person with lice but noted the chances of that happening are slim.
“Lice found on combs are likely to be injured or dead, and a louse is not likely to leave a healthy head unless there is a heavy infestation,” the report stated.
The AAP says the “ideal” treatment for head lice is safe, free from toxic chemicals, effective, inexpensive and simple to apply.
“Nits may persist after treatment, but successful treatment should kill crawling lice,” the CDC added.
