Then it is necessary to take a very fine comb—I suggest the nit combs manufactured for this purpose, and remove the nits (eggs). As mentioned above, these are very small, clear and glued to the hair shaft, often very close to the scalp. The child should sit leaning over a sheet or towel, while the hair is meticulously parted and combed, strand by strand if necessary, until every nit is gone. This is the only proven way to completely get rid of lice. If this step is not followed very carefully, it is likely the lice will be back in a few days.
The child’s hair should be checked and combed with a nit comb every two or three days for two or three weeks to make sure there are no more lice. For official information on lice treatment, direct parents to the CDC website.
How to disinfect the area? When a child is found with lice, spray the classroom with lice killing spray. Also, spray everywhere the child may have been: restrooms, classrooms, pews, fellowship hall and the van. Vacuum all carpeted areas.
2. COMMUNICATION
Communicating with parents. When you find out that lice has been discovered on a child who was in your church with other children, the first thing you need to do is contact the parents of all the children who would have been in contact with the infected child and their sibling(s). If you’re in a smaller church with 50 or less children, an email to all the parents might be a good idea.
Send a short notification with a few key notes about what is being done, some key facts about lice and how they spread, and suggestions for where to go for instructions on how to deal with lice.
Never give out the name of any infected child. Simply state that cases of head lice have been found to be going around and that they should check their children and take appropriate steps.
See Additional Resources at the end for two examples of a head lice letter to parents.
Communicating with volunteers who taught the infected child. The volunteers should be contacted immediately after contacting the parents. Do not delay! The sooner you notify everybody who had contact with the infected child, the more likely it is that the situation will be resolved and lice will be stopped from spreading any further.
3. TREATING SPACE
As you already know, lice cannot survive for long without a human host. However, there are steps that should be taken that will make sure there is no possibility of a reinfection from the space used for your children’s programs. I am sure you’ll be able to find a volunteer or two eager to take upon themselves the “purging” process.
All fabric toys should be sealed in a plastic bag and stored for two weeks, or put into a dryer and run through a five-minute hot air cycle. The heat will completely erradicate any potentially surviving lice, from eggs to adults.
Any blankets, sheets, etc. should be laundered as usual and dried in the dryer.
Carpets and furniture can simply be vacuumed. The risk of getting infected by a louse that has fallen onto the floor or furniture is very low.
FINAL WORDS
Stop scratching already!
