Website of the week: Headlice

Abstract

Headlice may not always make headlines, but there is no doubting their importance—ask any parent, teacher, general practitioner, or practice nurse. For an essentially harmless condition there is the potentially toxic effect of the treatments and the possibility of local resistance (p 1084). You wouldn't think that there are many head lice pundits in the world—that is, until you search the net. For straightforward, no nonsense facts on cause, transmission, and current suggested treatments, you won't need to go much further than the sites of the Department of Health (www.doh.gov.uk/headlice) and Harvard School of Public Health (www.hsph.harvard.edu/headlice.html). For a balanced approach to all methods of eradication—chemical and combing—the best site I found was www.chc.org/bugbusting/ Plain, reassuring advice for frustrated parents whose children continually cycle from one attack to another is available from www.liceinfo.com, and www.headlice.org offers a good FAQ (frequently asked question) area and tells you what to say to the nursery when your child is turned away. “Children should not be sent home or isolated in any way,” it says authoritatively. Complementary or natural remedies are well represented on the net. www.headlicecure.com and www.naturalmom.com both offer “to cure head lice without pesticides.” Tea tree oil seems the most popular choice. For lice detection equipment look no further than www.head-lice.com/ The Model 580 magnifying eye specs lice detector, complete with mounted halogen headlight, is a snip at $150. For kids at prestigious schools in America, www.licenders.com offers a “premier service for the identification and treatment of head lice.” The company's technicians can inspect 200 kids an hour and use “equipment that is state of the art.” American combs—just bound to have more teeth.