Inspired by many bed bug threads.. Head lice.. (No - no one has them - LOL)

[C.Ann]

And yes, I know I could look it up, but quite frankly I'm too lazy right now..

So - it's kind of like the "which came first - the chicken or the egg" question..

Lots of kids get head lice every year.. Many authorities state that it is not due to lack of cleanliness.. So.......

Where do they come from? Where does it start? How does it start? (Prior to the nits hatching and producing more head lice, that is..)

Now that school has been back in session awhile I'm sure that the head lice threads will be popping up and since bed bugs are all over the news right now, it got me thinking about it..

There used to be someone on the CB that was extremely well informed in terms of all kinds of bugs and insects (may have even been job related - not sure), but I can't remember who it was - or if that person even posts here now..

Anyone know?
Curiosity - plain and simple..

 

[belle&beast]

I am interested, too. My niece had head lice this year and we couldn't find the answer to how does it start? We think she got head lice from trying on hats at a store- she was the only one in her class to have it. My hair stylist recommended using shampoo/conditioner with tea tree oil toprevent head lice- I bought it, but am wondering if it really works...

 

[jordansmomma]

One of the guys I went to high school with, his house is infested with beg bugs. They had to get rid of their couches, beds and the frames.
His wife thinks they got them from a neighbor who gave them a bed for one of their kids. Now it has been a huge mess.

 

[laurie31]

Lice are not from being unclean. In fact, lice have a harder time adhearing their eggs to dirty hair, so being unkempt could actually be in your favor.

Kids in school are in very close contact. All they have to do to spread them is touch heads. Kids do this all the time. I was just looking at pics from DD's 5th grade field day. Every pic is a bunch of girls with their arms around each other's shoulders and their heads together.

So, lice are "out there." They don't really ever go away, they just keep spreading from one host to the next. Bleh.

 

[UKdisneytwinmummy]

I'm another one who uses tea tree shampoo, we started after my 2 got headlice when they were 1, I got them too, on my birthday! Touch wood, we have never had them again and they are 8 now and lots of their friends have had them, I think the tea tree must help.

 

[SandrA9810]

It's funny though, how lice usually winds up showing up in the late fall. During summer they some how manage to keep it on the down low, sort of speak.

It's kind of like the stupid love bugs in Central Florida. They pop up in the masses in May and September, but you won't see a trace of them any other time of the year.

So where do they hide the rest of the year?

 

[C.Ann]

Thanks for the replies , but still not what I'm looking for.. It's their origin that has me baffled.. I know that being dirty doesn't cause them to pop up out of thin air - LOL - so where did head lice come from?

And again - no one has them - and I'm not talking about bed bugs.. The focus on bed bugs in the news recently got me to thinking about head lice - thus the question as to their "origin"..

Thanks anyhow though..

 

[lemondog]

I have no idea where lice came from, but I guess once the very first ones reproduced it was all over!

They are a HUGE problem at our school right now, and this is a private school in a very nice area of town. They honestly know no economic boundaries and like someone else said they actually prefer clean hair. My kids are in 3 different classes and all 3 of them have brought letters home about lice being in their class. I know of 3 other grades as well so that's 6 out of 10 grades so far reporting at least one child with head lice. It was not nearly this bad last year.

FWIW they are a bit harder to catch than you would think.
Almost all the cases I know of right now are siblings. My oldest had them in Kindergarten, she got them from gymnastics and no one else in her class at school was everyinfected even though I am sure she had them for a while before I noticed them.

 

[allyphoe]

It's their origin that has me baffled.. I know that being dirty doesn't cause them to pop up out of thin air - LOL - so where did head lice come from?

From a not-quite-a-head-louse ancestor, and one before that that was a little bit more not-a-head-louse, just like everything else.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/u22123u11620p563/ has more details, if you're really interested.

 

[C.Ann]

From a not-quite-a-head-louse ancestor, and one before that that was a little bit more not-a-head-louse, just like everything else.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/u22123u11620p563/ has more details, if you're really interested.

Thanks! I forgot all about body lice though.. LOL..

I wouldn't buy a book about it, but with the magnifier on my computer what I was able to read was interesting..