School Nurses Watch for Lice Outbreaks

ATLANTA - With the start of a new school year -- school nurses are watching closely for outbreaks of an old childhood pest.

They say when children get together -- the opportunities for spread of head lice grow greater.

Tommy Lambert specializes in removing a parasite that many people associate with childhood -- that is head lice.

"Ninety five percent of it is transmitted from head to head contact. We like to convey that to people because they think they wore somebody's jacket and got it. It's possible, but it's very unlikely," said Tommy Lambert of Headhunters Lice Removal.

The pests are white in color, oval shaped and sit fairly close to the scalp. And eggs left behind by the parasites are the biggest danger as they could cause an infestation to spread and cause children a lot of pain.

"You can't cut out head lice, they need to be removed. The only thing that's gonna happen is they'll lay their eggs down lower, they still thrive, they use your head as their field. They'll plant their eggs on your hairshafts and as long as they have blood to feed on they'll go on and on," said Lambert.

"The biggest thing usually when students start scratching because it will cause them itching and irritation of the scalp, they'll tell a teacher that my scalp is itching, they'll tell a parent that my scalp is itching, that's usually the first sign," said Gwinnett County School nurse Joanne Giel.

Many school districts say they don't track numbers of cases but do have defined protocols on how to treat them. But thus far they have popped up in Paulding, Forsyth, and Clayton counties as well as Marietta city.

School nurses in Gwinnett County say parents there are asked to pick up students with lice and have them treated -- they also add that prevention is probably the best thing parents can do.

"We want to identify the student that had the possible case of head lice, we check them. If we have any live head lice, we call their parents ask them to pick them up from school and to treat them," said Giel. "We try to encourage students to not share combs and brushes, to not share hats, to not share helmets. If you know someone has head lice to lay on their pillow or lay on their stuffed animal."

Health workers say most of all, parents need to get children with lice treated and say they shouldn't panic.

Combing is the best way to get them out -- when done correctly it can eliminate 85 percent of the pests.