Selfies & head lice

According to a recent study published at CNBC, selfies are now linked to

the spread of head lice. And it makes sense. Head lice don’t jump or fly

but they crawl from head to head and they only need one hair to do so.

Most lice cases occur on children 4-11 years old due to the personal

spence they share. Children at that age are more prone to hug, play

closer and have overall less personal space within each other. Growing

up, that space grows with them and is less common for them to be infested

with head lice. The selfies phenomenon has brought back that closeness

between people along with a higher risk of head lice infestation.

Should we tell our children to not take selfies?

Much like making them aware of not sharing hats, helmets or jackets, it

is important to tell our children to be aware that head to head contact

is the preferred way for lice to spread and therefore they should be

careful to not get infested with head lice.

In addition, moms can keep extra caution by checking our children and

being alert for head lice symptoms such as itchiness or sleep problems

even when our children have left the “age of lice” behind.