For the first time since 2015, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has updated its guidance on head lice.
The AAP pointed to new medications that have been approved and devised a new algorithm for managing child patients, particularly in relation to school attendance and screening.
One important point the report emphasizes is that head lice infestations are neither a health hazard nor a sign of poor hygiene. On this basis, the association argues that the stigma and psychological stress of a lice diagnosis, especially for kids at school, is unwarranted.
“The stigma can result in children and adolescents being ostracized from their schools, friends, and other social events,” the guidance states. “Head lice can be psychologically stressful to the affected individual.”
Dallas pediatrician Dr. Marciel Oquendo repeated this point, telling NBC that head lice are not a serious health hazard.
“Even though lice is a huge inconvenience for a lot of people, it doesn’t pose a health risk the same way COVID or influenza would,” said Dr. Oquendo.
The AAP now recommends that no healthy child or teenager should be excluded from school or allowed to miss school due to head lice. It also claimed that head lice screening programs in schools are not cost-effective and have not been proven to have a significant impact on combating head lice.
According to Dr. Oquendo, parents should be notified of their child’s situation and decide how to proceed after consulting with their pediatrician, instead of immediately bringing students home and isolating them.
The report’s final key point claimed that “Medical providers should educate school communities that no-[lice] policies for return to school should be abandoned, because such policies would have negative consequences for children’s or adolescents’ academic progress, may violate their civil rights, and stigmatize head lice as a public health hazard.”