Don't brush off lice warnings
Parasites also enjoy the annual return to school, say air quality and health-care experts
April Hudson
Northern News Services
Monday, September 12, 2016
DEH CHO
Even supermodels get lice: that's the message Fort Simpson's Beauty Mark Salon wants parents and children to hear as students face an increased risk of catching head lice with their return to school.
Lice can be a source of humiliation but Fort Simpson hairstylist Devyn Kirkwood says that shouldn't be the case.
"It doesn't mean you're dirty or gross because they're attracted to clean hair," she said.
Kirkwood said salon staff can guide people in the right direction when it comes to preventing and treating head lice.
However, the salon suggests people speak to Dehcho Health and Social Services first, since the department may have its own treatment suggestions.
Some ways to prevent lice include not sharing hats or combs - two of the common ways lice is shared - as well as having girls wear their hair up and boys wear a bit of gel or hairspray.
"There's definitely multiple ways you can attack them," Kirkwood said.
Public health officer Dr. Kami Kandola with the Department of Health and Social Services said September is a time children are at the highest risk of getting lice due to going back to school.
"It doesn't mean that someone's not clean, that a family is less hygenic than anyone else, because anyone can catch lice," she said.
"A lice doesn't care if the hair belongs to a rich kid or a poor kid - it's just hair, and they love to jump on it."
Kandola said the department changed its suggestions on how to deal with lice after a recent study showed 97 per cent of head-lice in Canada and the United States are resistant to permethrin, an ingredient in common lice shampoos such as Nix.
Now, the department recommends two applications of head lice shampoo, seven to 10 days apart, and advises combing with a nit comb in between applications.
The most common lice shampoos are Nix and Colada.
Kandola said everyone in a household should be treated at the same time. Common items should be washed, and items that can't be washed should either be frozen for a short period or put in a plastic bag and left outside for 10 days.
If lice is still present after shampoo applications, other products with different chemicals are available including Pronto and R&C. Those are also safe to use on children under the age of two, unlike Nix and Colada.
Beauty Mark owner Troy Bellefontaine said it's better if parents check their children but that he and his staff don't mind running lice checks as well. All he asks is that patrons call ahead first to let the salon know they're coming in.
"We know what to look for, so if they come in, we don't mind helping with it," he said.
"If you think (you might have lice), you can come here if we're open and we can check."
The salon will normally conduct its check at the door or outside and is careful not to use any of its utensils when checking. That, Bellefontaine says, shouldn't make anyone feel embarrassed - rather, it's just a method of ensuring no lice or eggs are inside the salon and protects other customers.
Regular lice checks may not be a service offered by schools, depending on where the child lives. In Fort Simpson, Bompas Elementary School principal Kelley Andrews-Klein said the district education authority is currently working on a policy for lice.
"The DEA in collaboration with the schools are in the process of finalizing a head-lice policy which includes conducting regular head-lice checks," Andrews-Klein stated in an e-mail.
