The lice are small parasitic
insects that usually live on the scalp where they hide among the hair, feed on
blood, lay their eggs and repeatedly cause much itching. These insects are very
common during the years of kindergarten and early school years.
You will realize head lice when
they call your child's day care or school to give you the bad news, or you may
notice that your child frequently scratching or rubbing your scalp, especially
in the back of the head and around the ears.
But lice do not always cause
itching, especially at the beginning, so the first sign that you have are the
eggs of these insects, called nits in your hair. Nits are very small and a
pearly white, also tend to remain firmly attached to the hair, not like dirt or
pieces of skin off easily.
The most common way in which
these insects are spread is through a brother or a friend who has lice. These
insects just walk, so they can not jump or fly, so traveling from one head to
another by direct contact. Off the scalp lice can live for a day or two and can
go through pillows or hats.
It's a myth that lice are the
result of poor hygiene or poverty because these insects are very egalitarian
and can occur even in the largest class communities.
