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Lice are not nice

Foto: Paracelsia Pharma GmbH

For many people lice are something associated with bad hygiene and living conditions. However, the louse doesn’t mind where it makes its home. It’s rather fond of children and indeed children are most likely to suffer from lice infestation.

The head louse is a tiny – about the size of a sesame seed – wingless parasitic insect that lives between human hair and needs to draw blood in order to grow and survive and eventually lay its eggs, which are called nits. Lice are especially widespread among school children who tend to have closer head contact through group work, sports class etc. With a few simple precautions and some common sense, it is possible to alleviate and solve the problem. The following is typical of a conversation at the chemist’s:

Pharmacy customer: Good morning. My two children seem to be itching their scalps all the time over the last few days. I’m afraid that they’ve got fleas from our cat and ordinary shampoo doesn’t seem to work. Aside from that my son, who is nine, is very irritable.

PTA: Well, just to assure you, your cat has most definitely not passed on its fleas to your children! It is a widely held belief that household pets pass on their little infestations to humans but this is not true. It sounds as if your children have head lice.

Pharmacy customer: Head lice! How awful! I make sure that the children shower regularly and wash their hair every few days as well. How could they possibly have head lice?

PTA: Head lice and nits are fairly common. It doesn’t mean that your children are dirty; it simply means that they have picked up the bugs somewhere where they have had contact with other children who are carrying the insects. As lice are highly contagious and can spread quickly from person to person, it’s not unusual for children to get them.

Pharmacy customer: Where could they have possibly picked up these, these, … bugs?

PTA: Children tend to work closely together in group situations at school where they, unknowingly, put their heads together. As girls tend to have longer hair, they are a bit more likely to get nits than boys. The children could have picked the lice up at a child-care centre, or during a pyjama party, or after swimming or sports activities.

Pharmacy customer: But how could they possibly have picked them up?

PTA: Well, although lice don’t fly or jump, they have claws adapted to help them crawl and cling quite firmly to hair. They are generally spread through close head-to-head contact, but sharing items of clothing such as hats and coats, or using the same bed linen, or especially, combs, brushes and towels might possibly help to pass them on.

Pharmacy customer: How do I know if my children really have lice? I mean, couldn’t it be something else like an allergic reaction to something? Or even dandruff?

PTA: Lice eggs, the nits, do look a little like dandruff but you can’t simply shake them out of the hair so that’s one of the sure signs. Another one is scratching, which is caused by the fact that lice need blood every few hours in order to survive and develop from the nymph form, which is the freshly hatched louse, to the adult louse form. The whole cycle from nit to adult takes about seven days or so. Other symptoms are tiny red bumps or sores from scratching. Places to look are on the scalp, behind the ears and on the nape of the neck.

Pharmacy customer: Are there any lotions or preparations that I can use to treat the infestation?

PTA: There are quite a lot of over-the-counter and prescription creams, medicinal shampoos and various lotions available on the market. The only problem is that it isn’t unusual for these products to be ineffective because they haven’t been used correctly or, even worse, that the lice have become resistant to the insecticides used. It’s really necessary to follow the instructions on the label or in the packet as closely and correctly as possible, to make sure that the problem is treated correctly.

Pharmacy customer: Do you have any preparations here that I could use? PTA: In this case I would first check if the children do have nits or lice.

Pharmacy customer: How do I do this?

PTA: We’ve got fine-tooth combs, which are especially designed to comb the insects out of the hair. But you first have to find the lice. It’s best to use the comb to divide the child’s hair into sections and closely examine the parting for insects or eggs. A good idea is to do this under a bright light and, if necessary, use a magnifying glass to help. Lice move quite quickly, so you may have to try a few times before you actually find one. It helps to use a hair conditioner while combing the hair.

Pharmacy customer: Is there anything else I can do against these head lice?

PTA: It’s a good idea to wash everything at 60 °C which has come in contact with your children’s hair and skin in the last weeks, such as clothing, bed linen, and cuddly toys.

Pharmacy customer: You said that there are a lot of over-the-counter medicinal shampoos etc. available. Can’t you sell one of these products to me now?

PTA: Well, I would but I recommend that you go to your GP beforehand, he or she is much better at deciding how bad the infestation is and what steps you should take. I assume that he or she will prescribe a lotion or cream and if you have any problems we are always here to help you with the instructions.

Pharmacy customer: Thank you so much for your kind advice. Bye bye.

PTA: No problem at all, goodbye

Vocabulary

Intro

lice/louse die Läuse/die Laus
associated with verbunden mit
to be fond of s.th. etwas oder jemanden gern haben

Text

nit die Nisse, das Ei der Läuse
precaution die Vorsichtsmaßnahme
to alleviate mildern, erleichtern
scalp die Kopfhaut
irritable gereizt
to assure (sich) vergewissern
widely held belief weit verbreitete Annahme
pet das Haustier
bugs umgangssprachlich: das Ungeziefer
contagious ansteckend
unknowingly unbewusst
more likely wahrscheinlicher
claws die Krallen, die Klauen
to crawl krabbeln, kriechen
to cling festhalten, haften an
quite firmly ziemlich fest
spread verbreitet
bed linen die Bettwäsche
towel das Handtuch
dandruff die Kopfschuppe, die Schuppen
to scratch kratzen
freshly hatched frisch ausgeschlüpft
bumps die Beulen
sores wunde Stellen
nape of the neck der Nacken
to treat behandeln
over-the-counter rezeptfrei erhältlich
prescription Rezept, Verschreibung
ineffective erfolglos, unwirksam
fine-tooth comb fein gezahnter Kamm
to divide teilen
parting der Scheitel
magnifying glass Vergrößerungsglas
cuddly toys Kuscheltiere
to recommend empfehlen
beforehand vorher
to assume annehmen
to prescribe verordnen, verschreiben
08/07