📒Head Lice Policy (QA2) (video needed)

National Quality Standard (NQS) - Quality Area 2: Children's health and safety

Head Lice

Pediculosis Capitisor head lice are insects that live in hair and suck blood from the scalp, sometimes causing itching of the scalp. Female head lice lay their eggs and glue them to the base of hair shafts. The eggs are pale cream to yellowish-brown in colour and hatch after 7-10 days.  The immature lice grow into adults over 6-10 days and start biting the scalp to feed on blood. Adult lice mate, the females lay more eggs, and the cycle continues.

People get head lice from direct head to head contact with another person who has head lice. This can happen when people play, cuddle, or work closely together. Head lice do not have wings or jumping legs so they cannot fly or jump from head to head. They can only crawl.

Head lice do not live or breed on animals, bedding, furniture, carpets, clothes, or soft toys. They cannot spread by sharing hats.

 Head lice can be controlled through a consistent, systematic community approach.

Implementation

Responsibilities of Management, Nominated Supervisor, Responsible Persons, and Educators: 

• If one child at the Service has head lice, it is likely that several others also have them.
• The child or children with head lice are not to be isolated or excluded from learning. Reduce head-to-head contact between all children when the Service is aware that someone has head lice.
• The Director or nominated supervisor will confidentially notify the parent/caregiver of a child who is suspected of having live head lice and request that the child is treated before returning to the Service the following day.
• Keep families informed if there is someone at the Service with head lice.
• Support parents and children who have head lice by providing factual information, reducing parental anxiety, and not singling out individual children with head lice.
• Provide families with suggestions for an effective treatment for head lice. Encourage parents to tie back children's hair when attending the Service.
• Record confidentially all cases so an outbreak can be avoided.
• Encourage children to learn about head lice so as to help them understand the issue and how to prevent further outbreaks 

Responsibilities of families

• Check your child's head once a week and check for head lice.
• Ensure your child does not attend the Service with untreated head lice. If you find any live lice or eggs, begin treatment immediately and notify the Service if your child is affected so the Service can monitor the number of cases and act responsibly if a high number of cases are reported.
• Check for the effectiveness of the treatment every 2 days until no live lice are found for 10 consecutive days. Remove eggs from your child's hair using the conditioner method and head lice comb.

Once treatment has started, your child can attend the Service.

• Children with long hair will attend the Service with their hair tied back.
• Families will only use safe and recommended practices to treat head lice.
• Families will maintain a sympathetic attitude and avoid defaming/blaming families who are experiencing difficulty with control measures.

Treatment

Conditioner and Combing Technique

• Untangle dry hair with an ordinary comb.
• Apply hair conditioner to dry hair (white conditioner makes it easier to see the eggs). Use enough conditioner to cover the whole scalp and all the hair from roots to tips.
• Use an ordinary comb to evenly distribute the conditioner, and divide the hair into four or more sections using hair clips.
• Starting with a section at the back of the head, place the teeth of a head lice comb flat against the scalp. Comb the hair from the roots through to the tips.
• Wipe the comb clean on a tissue after each stroke and check for head lice or eggs on the tissue.
• Comb each section twice until you have combed the whole head. If the comb becomes clogged, use an old toothbrush, dental floss, or a safety pin to remove the head lice or eggs.
• Chemical treatments are also available for head lice for children ages more than six
• months- your pharmacist can help you choose a product.
• No single chemical treatment will work for everyone and lice can develop resistance to the chemicals.