NPA Press Release 03/28/2005

Industry sponsored guidelines developed in 2000 to promote sales of pesticide treatments for head lice continue to be used as the basis of allowing lice infested children to remain in the classroom. Parents across the country are fighting back!

(PRWEB) March 28, 2005 -- Parents across the country continue to fight back as No Nit Policies are denied in order to allow lice infested children to remain in the classroom. The National Pediculosis Association (NPA) urges everyone in the circle of responsibility for children to do their homework before abandoning their prevention protocols.

The NPA's No Nit Policy recommends a public health approach to controlling head lice and is available for review here. The NPA’s policy advocates a proactive approach -- informing communities about pediculosis in advance of outbreaks and providing pertinent information to enable parents to safely control head lice and send their children to school lice and nit free.

As it is today, many schools are switching to a reactive stance, refusing to dismiss infested children, hoping to control head lice outbreaks with pesticide shampoos which are not only potentially harmful to the children, but contain chemicals to which the lice are solidly resistant.

Michelle Veres, a concerned parent in Florida, has started a petition drive to reinstate their No Nit Policy and is exposing the history of how product-marketing gambits dictate school policy. She says: “It’s appalling that the school board says that as long as a child has been treated with a pesticide they can return to school with nits in their hair. Lice are communicable and their eggs keep the cycle of infestation going. Don’t show me some bogus study done by someone funded by a pediculicide company that says the nits aren’t likely to hatch after treatment.”

Over eighty-six percent of more than 1000 people who responded to an NPA poll posted on Headlice.org agree that children should not be in school with lice and nits. NPA reports that parents do not expect miracles, but they do expect schools to do the best they can.

J. Lytel, a Sudbury, Massachusetts parent has been helping to get the word out. She wants parents to know in advance that “Products provide a false sense of security and do not eliminate the problem.” She says, "Dependence on them can prolong outbreaks in a classroom by allowing infested children to return and infest their peers."

Chasing lice with chemicals is a losing proposition for everyone but the lice. The NPA encourages routine screening, early detection and manual removal of all lice and nits as the safest, most practical and realistic method for taking control of the head louse, a blood-obligate human parasite.

For more information and a complimentary Critter Card to help you identify lice and nits click here.

The NPA is a non-profit organization serving the public since 1983. The number one website on head lice issues, Headlice.org is strictly independent and offers parents and health professionals helpful resources on this important public health problem.

You will find everything from a national reporting registry -- to a photo gallery of lice and nits -- to e-cards -- to fun games for children to play during nit removal sessions plus a child friendly (designed by kids) section for kids to learn. Headlice.org also offers a helpful variety of free information downloads for community education and outreach.

"Because it's not about lice, it's about kids."

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