Should a child with head lice go to church?

[EasterJoy]

The general rule is that if some health issue ought to keep them home from school, it ought to keep them home from church, and if it keeps them home from church and school, it ought to keep them home from essentially everything else for that day, too. If the child has an issue that they can go to school with, they ought to use the same or stricter hygiene precautions at church. For instance, if a child has a bad cold of the kind that doesn’t keep them home from school, they ought to wash their hands often, keep their hands from their face, cough away from people, refrain from touching anyone, and so on.

I would actually use a stricter standard for church than for school if you expect to have a lot of elderly people at the Mass or if Mass otherwise presents a more serious reason to avoid spreading the problem than school. If a cold knocks a child down for two weeks, it could knock an older person down for far longer.

As for nits, I would assume that you did not get all of them yet, and keep your child home for one day after the original treatment. That is not an onerous amount of time or a frivolous reason to miss Mass when it could save others from such a bothersome infestation.

This could answer more of your questions:
schoolhealthservicesny.com/faq.cfm?subpage=80

*Should schools have a “No-Nit” Policy?
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) attempts to clarify diagnosis and treatment of head lice and makes recommendations for dealing with this condition in school. Among its recommendations, the AAP says no healthy child should be excluded from, or allowed to miss school because of head lice, and that “no nit” policies for return to school should be discouraged. Numerous anecdotal reports exist of children missing weeks of school and even being forced to repeat a grade because of head lice. Although not painful or a serious health hazard, head lice are the cause of much embarrassment and misunderstanding, many unnecessary days lost from school and work, and millions of dollars spent on remedies. The AAP recommendations for treating head lice also include:
◦School personnel responsible for detecting head lice should be appropriately trained, as it can be difficult to diagnose.
◦Permethrin 1 percent (an insecticide) is currently the recommended treatment for head lice.
◦Head lice screening programs in schools do not have a significant effect on the incidence of head lice, and are not cost-effective. Parent education programs may be a more appropriate management tool.
◦Manually removing nits after medication for killing lice is not necessary to prevent spread. However it may be prudent to remove nits in school-aged children to decrease the chance of misdiagnosis. Nit removal is tedious and often cannot be accomplished in one sitting. *

 

[EasterJoy]

I agree with you. So many people rush to buy chemical-laden treatments before giving the home remedies a chance. Then people sit around scratching thelr heads (no pun intended) on why there is such an increase in illness and diseases.

You don’t have to repeat experiments that have already been done, and the oil treatment has been tested:

What probably won’t work–Some home remedies include cooking oil, mayonnaise, vinegar and other combinations. Studies have shown lice can survive in hair covered with olive oil, mayonnaise and even petroleum jelly–even when it is left on the hair overnight. Shampooing with ordinary shampoo won’t kill lice; lice can survive through two consecutive shampooings, even when the hair is not rinsed for an hour after the second shampooing. Lice don’t drown easily. Research has shown lice can survive when immersed in water for 14 hours at 86-98 degrees F. *
*
Managing Head Lice Safely–University of Nebraska, Lincoln
lancaster.unl.edu/pest/lice/headlice018.shtml

Check with a reputable source about whether any remedy you want to use has or has not been proven effective in actual experiments and whether or not certain methods must be used in order for a given treatment to be effective. Know the likely effectiveness of the treatment you choose, and check as recommended to see if it was effective in your case. While it is preferable to use the less drastic treatment if there is a good chance it will work, it is pointless to delay treatment with remedies that are likely to fail. There is no reason to re-invent the wheel.

 

[Decisiontime]

Not going to argue with anyone here on how well any home remedy works. I know the Mayo worked for us and other members of our homeschool community ( when all the kids in our group shared hair brushes before a play!) But please be careful! The main active ingredients which are components of anti-lice products are malathion, permethrin, and piperonil butoxide. Some of the side effects of these chemical include Birth defects, seizures etc. etc.

 

[UbiCaritas]

The general rule is that if some health issue ought to keep them home from school, it ought to keep them home from church, and if it keeps them home from church and school, it ought to keep them home from essentially everything else for that day, too. If the child has an issue that they can go to school with, they ought to use the same or stricter hygiene precautions at church. For instance, if a child has a bad cold of the kind that doesn’t keep them home from school, they ought to wash their hands often, keep their hands from their face, cough away from people, refrain from touching anyone, and so on.

I would actually use a stricter standard for church than for school if you expect to have a lot of elderly people at the Mass or if Mass otherwise presents a more serious reason to avoid spreading the problem than school. If a cold knocks a child down for two weeks, it could knock an older person down for far longer.

Absolutely. Plus, there are a lot of infants and babies at many Masses, and they, like older people, have weaker immune systems. What would be a minor respiratory infection in most people can be deadly to the elderly and the very young. My husband grew up in Florida in a community with a very high number of retirees, and every year during cold/flu season his pastor would spend some time during a homily explaining that it’s an act of charity to stay home when sick because you could, quite literally, kill someone by standing near them and spreading a viral or bacterial infection to them. Not worth it. Attending Mass: very good, and required if you aren’t excused for some reason. Communicable illness is a reason.

(Of course, I’d argue that kids should be able to stay home from school when they’re still contagious lest they pass along that cold or infection to another child with younger siblings/older family members in the home, but good luck persuading many school administrators of that…)

Back on topic…looks like the OP figured out the best solution.

 

[BettyBoop416]

A child with head lice should have you coat his/her head with mayonaise, wrap it in plastic wrap, and leave it for 20 minutes or so, repaeating the process periodically until the problem is gone. Works like a champ with no chemical drwabacks. No kidding - look it up online!

Doesn’t work.

Use the proper medicine.

If it says online, it HAS to be true.

 

[Judas_Thaddeus]

Did Jesus reject the lepers? (Food For Thought)
EDIT: Try looking for shampoos specially designed against lice if you haven’t yet.

 

[UbiCaritas]

Did Jesus reject the lepers? (Food For Thought)
EDIT: Try looking for shampoos specially designed against lice if you haven’t yet.

No, but He didn’t say “Go ye and infect all nations.” If He kindly appears and delouses this child, I’ve no doubt the parents will be duly grateful, but in the event that that doesn’t happen, your second suggestion is the more likely to be followed.

Telling someone with a communicable illness (or, in this case, infestation) not to infect other people is hardly rejection; it’s common sense.

 

[dailey]

Actually, using the comb specifically made to remove lice is the best way to get the majority of them out of the hair. Pair that with tea tree oil and they will be lice-free in no time. I used this on my kids last summer and worked for us. To each their own…

 

[Mary_Gail_36]

Head lice are contagious, yes, but pretty difficult to contract.

Normally one would need direct contact (head to head) or sharing of a product (hair brush, cap,hat etc) A few summers ago my DD caught them.

She spread them to my husband and to me, we believe by sleeping in our bed. My two sons never caught it. DD caught them at kindergarten, her nap mat had come in contact with an infected child’s and voila’

Last summer we had a play date with two infected girls (no one knew) and my children were not infected.

Head lice are becoming harder to combat with the over the counter insecticides because lice are becoming resistant. I used an over the counter insecticide twice. The lice just seemed to mock me. What actually worked is a product I found that had a natural repellent called quassia.

Most people that I know had head lice had terrible luck with the insecticides, but the quassia product worked the first time.

 

[savedbygrace71]

pediatrichairsolutions.com/

the above is another option, neither insecticide nor mayonnaise. They use a high heat hair dryer type of thing to kill the lice and nits. Once the nits have gotten into your house and upholstered items, it’s very frustrating to get them all out. The services Pediatric Hair Solutions offer make it possible to pick your infested kids up from school, and theoretically get them fully treated without bringing the lice into the home. It’s expensive, though!
We had it run through our preschool, and it’s very contagious, not hard to catch. But, lice don’t jump you do have to actually be touching the infested hair or item for the lice to spread. So, I vote no way to church!

 

[His_helpmeet]

I’m a nurse, and I did a clinical once in public health. Our guidelines stated that lice actually aren’t that easy to catch, unless you physically touch someone’s hair. This is why children should not wear each other’s hats or hair decorations, they should not have each other’s hair touching, and they should not share combs or brushes.

I believe the recommendations in Canada are similar to those of the AAP - “no nit” policies really don’t work any better than common sense. Again, unless you’re physically touching hair, the lice don’t spread that easily.

It’s also no longer required that you wash all your bed linen, vacuum all the floors, etc. Lice aren’t designed to live off the human head, so most lice you find elsewhere are either dead or headed that direction. Of course, you can still wash everything if you want to, but there’s really not a major need for it.

It would seem that combing nits out of your child’s hair is ESSENTIAL to getting rid of the lice. Shampoos only work on the lice that are already there. Nits feel like little grains of sand and they stick to the hair, usually near the root. From what I’ve heard, it’s a real pain, but going over all their hair every night with a lice comb is the only way to fully get rid of all the nits.

*This is not intended to constitute a final medical opinion. In cases of lice infestation, consultation with a public health nurse, doctor, or other care provider is recommended.

 

[Shae]

Hi friend, I was a hairdresser eons ago. And when we had someone sit in our chairs with lice or even treated for one day, (Sometimes takes several applications to rid of lice) we were regulated to Not work on that person’s hair. They can jump 18 feet and spread like wildfire. (We had to study lice in basic training)

And have you washed her bed linen and blankets and all washables she touched (her head has touched) in hot water? This has to be done also so family won’t get them.

I’m sorry this happened to you. It’s horrible to say the least. ~~If you put equal parts of water and white vinegar on her hair after shampooing will help tremendously. Leave vinegar mixture on for two minutes making sure the vinegar gets down to the scalp. Then rinse. Vinegar kills. Do this to all members of the family. You will smell like a salad but hey, greens are good for you. lol

God Bless you and hugs for this. Sheila

Well there in Texas I guess the head lice, have knees. I googled a government information on my side of the planet, head lice do not have wings nor knees, hence do not fly or jump.

 

[Serap]

I just read that head lice is considered a communicable disease. So I will be treating her as though she is ill and keeping her home from mass. Thank you for the advise!

Othere parents at that church would be thanking you if they knew