I never realized that I will also be dealing with “lice” when Jeff and I decided to enroll our children in regular school.
The first week that our daughter, Antoinette, attended school, I was alarmed when I saw nits and lice on her hair and scalp.
It was that bad.
The infestation spread to her brothers, Nicholas and Jeffrey. Luckily, I had two bottles of the Licealiz shampoo in my bathroom shelves. They were leftovers from the Kilusang Kontra Kuto (KKK) 2 caravan that I attended last year. I gave away many of these bottles to colleagues and family members because there was no reason to use them at home.
I am not naïve though so I thought of leaving two bottles in my stash for emergency purposes.
July of 2018 was the emergency I was waiting to happen.
So when the third year of the KKK was rolled out at the Mandaue City Central School last October 30, I was the mother who can give an honest review of the product and how it has treated our head lice problem. To this day, we continue to use the product for prevention.
Infestation
KKK is the coalition of head lice prevention experts and advocates led by Lamoiyan Corporation’s Licealiz, Department of Education (DepEd), University of the Philippines (UP) Manila College of Public Health, Mommy Bloggers Philippines, and Drugstores Association of the Philippines.
It aims to create a bigger impact by visiting different schools in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao to educate parents and children about the head lice problem or scientifically known as pediculosis capitis.
A joint study by DepEd and UP noted that head lice infestation is still “considered as the second most common health problem in public schools in the Philippines next to tooth decay.”
At the KKK learning session in Cebu, I met Dr. Maridel “Mardy” Rosaroso McVeigh, a beautiful doctor who shared to parents and children the facts about head lice.
“It is important that we know what head lice infestation is. We have to remember that this is a medical condition and has to be treated,” she told parents and children.
Facts
In an interactive presentation, Dr. Mary shared that a female louse can lay 100 eggs or nits in its lifetime. Lice lay nits on the hair shafts close to the scalp. A female louse can lay an average of 10 eggs a day and it can live for one month.
After seven days, the nits will hatch into nymphs (baby lice).
Even without a head, a head louse can survive for three days. If they happen to be left in a comb within three days and another person uses the comb, the louse will still be alive to thrive in that person’s head.
How does head lice spread?
Dr. Mardy told parents that head lice do not spread because of the heat or because of poor hygiene.
“They spread because of close head-to-head contact so that covers sharing of headband, hairbrushes, blankets, pillows and caps,” she said.
It is also not true that head lice can fly or jump because they are wingless insects.
Problems
If you grow up having head lice or know friends who had them, chances you know how having kuto brings a negative connotation due to its association low social status and poor hygiene.
This often leads to decrease in a child’s self-confidence. Parents of children with head lice are also embarrassed because that means they are not taking care of their children. My mother used to tell me that if the lice in my head multiply, there will be so many of them that they can “fly” me to the moon and leave me there to freeze and die. I know now it’s not true but that was a horrible thought to my six-year-old self.
The KKK advocacy is a worthy cause to support because it brings forth the discussion to parents and children allowing them to know the truth about head lice infestation. This is important because misinformation can cause more harm than good. I had classmates whose heads were doused with mayonnaise and kerosene and covered with plastic overnight just to kill the lice.
The presence of head lice can also cause serious infections, according to Dr. Arlene Bertuso from University of the Philippines Manila College of Public Health.
She said the surface of our skin is filled with different kinds of bacteria. While lice itself cannot cause infections, Dr. Arlene said “severe scratching caused by allergic reactions to the insects’ saliva can cause the scalp to break and will increase the chance of a secondary bacterial infection.’
But what I really consider as the major problem that head lice bring forth to us, human beings, is its impact on academic and work productivity.
The bites of head lice cause inflammation and itchiness. These conditions disrupt concentration in school and work. It can, therefore, affect productivity. The DepEd and UP study shows that can also cause loss of sleep, which can then lead to irritability, short attention span and lack of focus. The same study also noted that head lice infestation “dramatically affects the school performance of children because of the discomfort and social stigma it causes.”
Treatment
It may not be a fatal condition but attention needs to be given to address the problem on head lice infestation which is commonly found in school children.
While using fine-tooth comb was a common solution for many years, today’s generation of mothers can trust Licealiz Head Lice Treatment Shampoo to do the job of eliminating and preventing head lice.
Dr. Mardee said the shampoo contains pyrethrin, a non-toxic substance derived from the extract of chrysanthemum flowers.
“It is safe for pregnant women and children. Experiments show that this ingredient is harmful to head lice but not to humans,” she said.
For treatment: use the shampoo twice a week. Leave for 10 minutes and then rinse off. Use a fine-tooth comb afterwards to see the lice and nits come off. Parents, follow through with checking your children’s hair and head to remove unsightly dead nits.
For maintenance: use once a week and follow the instructions above.
A 60-ml bottle only costs P71 while a 10-ml sachet is only P12. The product comes in two variants: the regular and the soothing coolness. The latter leaves a cooling sensation on the scalp.
I know this by heart now because we have three children in the house, who are often in close head-to-head contact with their classmates and friends.
