Once a Week Take a Peek for Head lice

Two thirds of Irish parents fear that the head lice situation is getting worse yet nearly half do not check for head lice often enough, a new survey has revealed.

The survey of over 2,000 Irish parents revealed that the most common reason given for the increasing difficulty in controlling head lice was failure of parents to take action. Experts recommend that parents check their child’s hair and scalp for head lice at least once per week. However, the survey revealed that 43% of parents do not do a weekly check. In fact 10% only check once a term during the school holidays or never at all.

When asked why they do not check more frequently, the top 3 reasons given were a lack of time, not understanding that they needed to and restless children. Worryingly, 10% would consider shaving their child’s head to get rid of head lice!

The survey also revealed that many myths and misconceptions about head lice still exist, with 23% of parents believing head lice jump from one head to another, 28% thinking that lice prefer clean hair and 22% believing head lice can be caught by sharing things like hairbrushes, towels and bedding.

For parents, head lice can be a frustrating problem to deal with, particularly as research shows that head lice are now increasingly resistant to traditional insecticide treatments.

A new head lice awareness campaign aims to encourage parents to be more vigilant when dealing with head lice. The ‘Once a Week, Take a Peek’ campaign was launched by Hedrin head lice treatment in partnership with the Medical Entomology Centre, an international centre specialising in head lice research and development.

Posted Wednesday 23rd July 2008