Why do children constantly get lice? - briefly
Close contact in schools and insufficient hair hygiene provide ideal conditions for head‑lice transmission. Children share personal items and often lack awareness of preventive measures, allowing rapid spread.
Why do children constantly get lice? - in detail
Children acquire head‑lice infestations repeatedly because several biological, behavioral, and environmental factors converge in settings where they interact.
The parasite «Pediculus humanus capitis» survives only on human scalps, requiring direct head‑to‑head contact for transmission. Schools, daycare centers, and playgrounds provide frequent opportunities for such contact, especially during group activities, sports, and shared transportation.
Key contributors include:
- Close physical proximity during play and classroom work, which facilitates lice movement from one head to another.
- Sharing of personal items such as hats, hairbrushes, headphones, and blankets, which can carry live lice or viable eggs.
- High population density in childcare facilities, increasing the probability that an infested child will encounter others.
- Limited awareness of effective prevention measures among caregivers, leading to delayed detection and treatment.
- Resistance of certain lice strains to common insecticidal shampoos, reducing the efficacy of standard eradication protocols.
- Socio‑economic constraints that limit access to professional lice‑removal services or high‑quality treatment products.
- Seasonal patterns, with higher prevalence in cooler months when children spend more time indoors and wear head coverings.
Additional considerations:
- Lice eggs (nits) adhere firmly to hair shafts and can remain viable for up to ten days, allowing re‑infestation even after apparent clearance.
- Incomplete treatment courses leave surviving lice, which reproduce and repopulate the scalp within a week.
- Misconceptions about hygiene, such as the belief that regular bathing prevents lice, do not affect transmission because lice are not attracted to dirt.
Effective control requires a multi‑step approach: prompt identification of live lice, thorough application of a proven pediculicide according to label instructions, removal of nits with fine‑toothed combs, laundering of clothing and bedding at high temperatures, and education of families and staff about avoiding the exchange of headgear and personal grooming tools. Continuous monitoring after treatment helps detect any resurgence early, preventing further spread in the community.