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Schools step up attack on lice. Officials stocking $11,000 worth of new treatment.
When Keys public school students return to the classroom in August, they will have some long-awaited help in their escalating battle with burdensome and embarrassing head lice. Monroe County health officials have stocked nine local schools with $11,000 worth of innovative treatment to help combat the parasitic insects that infest the heads of more than 12 million people annually in the United States. Because head lice cases are not considered a public-health issue and are not required by law or school board policy to be reported, it is unknown how many Keys students have lice. Local health experts, however, say the nuisance bugs are the No.1 health problem in Monroe schools, in part because of the Keys' year-round warm weather in which lice thrive. MISSED DAYS The situation has grown so severe that some students have missed up to 60 days of school because of chronic infestations. Some parents desperate to be rid of lice have sought drastic measures, using gasoline, kerosene, and even Frontline, a flea and tick treatment for dogs and cats, on their children's heads. Although some store and home remedies, including olive oil and mayonnaise, have been successful in curbing lice, health officials say they have found the most effective treatments yet: a nontoxic, licorice-scented shampoo called HairClean 1-2-3 Lice Remover and MagiComb, an electronic comb that uses vibrating teeth to remove lice and their eggs. Both products are manufactured by Quantum and were the focus of a study three years ago by the University of Miami School of Medicine's Department of Dermatology. Researchers tested the treatment on 60 students at Gerald Adams Elementary and Key Largo schools that had head lice. The treatment, said health officials, was nearly 100 percent effective. `MIRACLE CURE' "When we have children out of school for weeks and having to shave their heads, we had to find something that really works. I think we now have that miracle cure," said Sandy Higgs, community outreach director for the Monroe County Rural Health Network. "It's safe, it smells good and it's easy to use. It's given [hope to] a lot of school nurses having to deal with lice day in and day out." Although the products have been on the market for several years, the county health department only recently purchased the treatments for local schools because of available funding and a policy change directed at combating lice. Keys schools previously had to pay for lice-treatment products out of their own budgets. While parents are ultimately responsible for treating a child's head lice, schools are helping out, donating treatment products and extra hands to help comb eggs out of hair. Although it is not required, many schools conduct mass screenings to identify head lice cases. For example, Gerald Adams checks its 500-plus students three times each school year. Starr Norris, a health-support specialist at Gerald Adams, said her clinic is stocked with county-supplied lice treatments and she's hopeful that the products will help ease the epidemic. View products now - HairClean 1-2-3 Lice Remover and MagiComb.
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