Originally published at: New CDC policy: If your kid has lice, they can stay at school - Boing Boing
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CDC: Center to promote Disease Communicability 
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A no nit policy was always stupid. The problem comes with the fact that there is a very high degree of resistance to the topical insecticides commonly used to treat them, leading to treatment failures. This is what we recommend here, which looks like it violates some of the stuff published above, but 30 years’ experience says this works as well if not better than the topical treatments commonly used.
Recommend getting Cholesterol creme rinse from Sally’s Beauty Supply (a local beauty supply store that is the only reliable source for this stuff that I have found.), rubbing it thoroughly into the scalp and leaving it overnight. The next morning, after rinsing out the creme rinse, soak the hair with a mixture of vinegar and water 50:50, let soak for 30 minutes and comb through with lice comb. Following this treatment, use a Tea Tree Oil shampoo regularly to reduce the risk of reacquiring the infestation.
Is it magical? Nope, I have had failures, but I have had failures with all of the options, and this one has far fewer risks than the others. We also sometimes try oral Bactrim, which kills off bacteria in the louse gut that they depend on to metabolize blood meals. This also works-ish. this is a sub rosa problem that is honestly getting worse.
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I’m a big fan of not stigmatizing kids by sending them home when nits are detected. I’m not a big fan of parents and guardians ignoring notices that lice have been detected in the classroom and not doing their part to mitigate the problem, thus allowing infestations to persist.
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Lice aren’t bedbugs. They are pretty weak, really. Lice can’t live for long without the warmth and food of a host. My daughter brought them home when she was in 2nd grade, Ms.KiltedDad also got them (she teaches at the same school). After the first trip ($400/head) for an olive oil and combing session at the local lice treatment place, I decided to DIY. Get a really good lice comb and a lot of conditioner, work from one side of the head to the other, combing out. Rinse, check every day for a week or so.
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This topic is making my scalp itch like crazy.
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Finally a use for all that Ivermectin I’ve been hording.
(no, don’t do this, this is not medical advice. It is a possible treatment for lice, but rarely the best choice because of side effects)
Permethrin lotion is pretty common for treating head lice too. Make it very clear to everyone in the household that it is incredibly toxic to cats. (not a big deal for dogs)
I think less aggressive school polices around public health issues will result in a slight uptick in the frequency of head lice.
That said. Head lice is annoying to deal with, but generally not dangerous. And it treatment is more about just putting in the work, rather than going for fancy remedies (many of the natural ones aren’t very effective). Remove nits and keep doing this until there are none left.
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Gum, lice, something’s bound to work…
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My daughter got nits twice at primary school. We treated her in the garden, with some kind of medical shampoo and a good nit comb. This was nearly 20 years ago so the shampoo treatment may be out of date. The nit comb still works.
The second time it happened we all got nits. I was horrified to be infested. I had never had nits when I was a boy. However, I manned up. We all helped each other to get clean. Fortunately it was during the summer.
It’s still a family joke, that we touch our heads together and go, “pew pew pew”, the sound of the nits jumping from one head to the next.
“Life Is Dirt,” I tell my wife.
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400 bucks a head?!?!
/Orders nit combs and business cards
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if you can get your hands on this stuff, take it. it actually works and is the go-to solution in germany (not that there are much solutions left, after the eu forbad 2008 lindane-products);
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Yeah, but with Lindane people could have their own private little Seveso if they wanted to.
Or didn’t read the fucking instructions.
(There is no need to point out how, actually, Seveso was about 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, not gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane. Thank you.)
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Can confirm, it‘s cheap, simple to use and does work.
IIRC you have to do two treatments with a couple of days pause to be 100% effective. This is what most people don‘t do around here, so it often takes a couple of weeks to get rid of lice in school.
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well, jah, 
I was glad it was availible when I had scabies.
and read the instructions.
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One of the most effective deterrents to head lice is HEAT … blow drying, curling irons and straightening combs.
And teach your children to not share hair care items or hair decorations, scarves or hats.
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