Post a Comment On: Richard Sprague

This five-minute podcast from Sound Medicine at Indiana School of Medince should be mandatory listening to everyone with a child enrolled at Mercer Island elementary schools. Based on new, systematic research by Richard J. Pollack and other epidemiologists from Harvard, scientists have concluded that: Lice spread only by head-to-head contact -- not from sharing hats or combs. Personal hygiene has no affect one way or another on incidents of infestation Even school nurses generally have only a 50% accuracy rate when diagnosing an infestation. Here's what the Harvard School of Public Health says: Sending children home in order to reduce transmission of lice is "virtually always counter-productive." Head lice spread far less easily than cold or flu virus. "We are unaware of any convincing data that demonstrates that enforced exclusion policies are effective in reducing the transmission of lice. " Here's a data sheet with recommendations for how to manage a head lice infestation at school. Basic idea: Don't bother with the nits; thoroughly remove live lice with a louse comb every day or two for a week. Try chemicals if that doesn't work.