Headlice continued on C2
By Steven Matthews
Staff Writer
MIDDLETOWN — While certainly head lice are a cause for concern, there is a common misconception about the tiny insects that infest scalp hair, according to health officials.
Described more as a nuisance than anything else, area school districts do have procedures in place in how to handle cases of head lice, but they do not regularly check students for them.
“There’s no disease associated with it,” said Pam Farrish, a school nurse for Lakota Local Schools. “It’s not as contagious as people think. It’s just a nuisance. We understand the parent’s anxiety not wanting their child to get it. It doesn’t make it any easier when it’s your child and you’re picking it out of their hair.”
The topic came to the forefront last week after a Middletown parent was upset at how the district responded to her 5-year-old daughter’s reoccurring case of head lice.
Allison Brown said her daughter, Paris, has gotten head lice four times over the last month, and on Friday, she received a truancy letter from the district because Paris has three or more unexcused absences. Brown left several messages with the superintendent’s office, although she did speak with Sam Ison, the district’s senior director of instructional leadership.
“I understand in the public school, (head lice) is going to happen,” Brown said. “But how about a health check in the morning? Who wouldn’t want a change for the better?”
Gracie Gregory, administrative assistant to the superintendent, said students are only checked for head lice when there is a confirmed case or symptoms of head lice are present. If the case is confirmed, the student’s classmates are checked as well.
Gregory said it’s the district’s policy to “immediately” send home children who have head lice, and the nurse goes over the policy and treatment possibilities with the parents.
“It’s just one of those things that happens, and it happens in other districts,” Gregory said. “Is it a concern? No, not really.”
Dr. Richard Pollack, a public health entomologist, shares those same sentiments.
An instructor at Harvard for more than 20 years, Dr. Pollack said that if a child experiences multiple cases of head lice over time, more than often than not it’s simply a chronic case.
“(Treatment) may have reduced the population but not eliminated head lice,” he said. “If you see them again, it’s common to jump to the conclusion that the lice were reacquired from somewhere else. It’s likely, though, due to improper treatment.”
Dr. Pollack said nearly all cases of head lice can be traced back to direct head-to-head contact with an infested person, and that illnesses such as the flu and colds are “far more burdensome from a medical perspective.”
“Head lice is a trivial thing,” Dr. Pollack said. “Many parents don’t think that’s true and they’re basing it on emotion. Head lice truly are innocuous. They’re just about at the bottom of the list of public health significance.”
School districts such as Hamilton and Fairfield follow recommendations from state-level and national organizations, like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Association of School Nurses.
If head lice are spotted, the parents are notified and the nurses work with the family until the problem is cleared, Hamilton head nurse Tracy Heinecke said. The student is checked by a nurse before being allowed to return to the classroom, and that can be as soon as one or two days.
“We see it more in our elementary buildings than we do our secondary buildings,” Heinecke said. “I don’t think it’s a huge problem. The parents are really good about working with us.”
David Foster, Fairfield’s support services director, said it’s a matter of being proactive. The district sends the student home to be treated when a case is confirmed, and again checked by a nurse before going back into the classroom.
“Kids are kids,” he said. “They run across one another on the playground, and unfortunately, it’s going to happen. It’s human nature. And when we do have a case, we take the necessary steps.”