Introduction
What are they?
Head lice are tiny, wingless parasitic insects that live among human hairs, feeding on tiny amounts of blood drawn from the scalp (The Nemours Foundation, 2016). Head lice (louse, singular; lice, plural) are very frustrating to deal with and can spread very quickly. However, they are not dangerous.
Life cycle:
Nit - Nits are head lice eggs; very hard to see and can be confused for dandruff. Eggs are laid by an adult female louse and deposited near the base of the hair shaft. The eggs are very tiny, as small as 0.8 x0.3mm, oval in shape and often a white/yellow colour. Eggs usually hatch after approximately a week. This is not an optimum time to commence treatment.
Nymphs - A nymph is hatched from the egg. After hatching, the nymph looks like an adult louse but is only the size of a pinhead. This is an ideal time for treatment as they are alive and active.
Adults - An adult louse has 6 legs, is tan to greyish white in colour and about the size of a sesame seed. Adult nits can survive up to 30 days on a person's head, feeding on blood several times a day (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015).
Figure 1 below provides a visual representation of the life cycle of a nit, from being laid on the hair shaft through to the final stage of life for a female adult (continuing to lay eggs during their somewhat short life cycle and hence, infection is cyclic unless treated continually and at the optimal time) (Head Lice Treatment World, 2016).
Figure 1.
Life cycle of head lice. Retrieved from http://www.headlicetreatmentworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/nits_and_lice_life_cycle1.gif
How can I spot them?
Symptoms:
Additional to simply observing nits attached the hair shaft of a student's head, teachers might also be able to recognise the signs of nits and active head lice by students scratching and visible red bumps and sores from scratching.
Task
During your allocated weekly team teaching meeting, follow the links in this webquest and also conduct your own research to identify appropriate treatment options for students and their families. Further, collate information on preventable measures which you can encourage both within your classroom and suggest for use within students’ homes.
Consider product recommendation, availability and price which can be provided to parents and carers by way of an information sheet. For families who may struggle to afford the treatment for lice, I encourage you to approach your local pharmacies or write to pharmaceutical companies requesting samples, confirming to any willing donors that you will support and recommend their business and product within your school community.
Suggested starting points for your research includes:
Info sheets and treatment plans:
http://www.headlicetreatmentworld.com/
Treatment products, price and availability:
http://www.amcal.com.au/head-lice-products
Fact sheets, preventative strategies and treatment options:
http://www.health.wa.gov.au/docreg/Education/Diseases/Communicable/Parasitic/HP0149_head_lice_FS.pdf
Preventative measures:
Process
At the conclusion of your research, create a letter template that can be used in your classroom to be sent home to parents/carers in the event of a head lice occurrence. Suggested inclusions:
- Head lice facts
- Preventative strategies
- Signs and symptoms
- Treatment options, costs and availability
Following your research also create a classroom poster to assist students in understanding the important of prevention and persisting with treatment plans at home. Encourage students to practice hygienic hair-care at home and at school – this includes considering the impact of sharing hair products and ‘playing with each other’s hair’. Young girls are particularly susceptible to this issue given they generally have longer hair and use more accessories and products, raising the possibility of transmission of nits via sharing. List some preventable measures on your poster and provide visual cues (e.g. pictures of hair tied back, combs in hot water to kill eggs) (Government of Western Australia, 2011).
Consider possible Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (2016) links for implementing the classroom poster; align teaching within a complementary learning sequence – some suggested links include:
Foundation – Identify actions that promote health, safety and wellbeing (ACPPS006)
Years 1/2 - Explore actions that help make the classroom a healthy, safe and active place (ACPPS022)
Years 5/6 – Investigate the role of preventative health in promoting and maintaining health, safety and wellbeing (ACPPS058)
Evaluation
At the next scheduled whole-school staff conference (1st of May, 2016), bring copies of both your classroom poster and your letter template.
This will allow for resource sharing with your colleagues at a whole school level and they can either adapt their own or utilise different resources depending on the situation they have in their own classrooms.
Conclusion
Following this meeting, at the next scheduled conference (1st of June, 2016) provide an overview of how classroom implementation went, including curriculum links, student input and participation.
Please also provide a comprehensive written report on any outbreaks and subsequent treatment if applicable within your classroom.
Credits
References
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). (2016, April 12). F- 10 curriculum: Health and physical education (Version 8.1), all curriculum dimensions. Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/health-and-physical-education/curriculum/f-10?layout=1
Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. (2015). Life cycle image and information. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/lice/head/biology.html
Government of Western Australia. (2011). Head lice. Retrieved from http://www.health.wa.gov.au/docreg/Education/Diseases/Communicable/Parasitic/HP0149_head_lice_FS.pdf
The Nemours Foundation. (2016). Head lice: Information sheet. Retrieved from http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/head-lice.html