Quote:The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) now recommends against sending children infested with head lice home from school because doing so may “stigmatize” them, “violate their civil rights,” and/or cause “psychological stress.”

The AAP updated its guidance on head lice this week for the first time since 2015.

According to the new guidance, lice infestations are neither a health hazard nor a sign of poor hygiene, and “no-nit” school policies may stigmatize children suspected of having head lice, resulting in “psychological stress.”

The updated guidance states that “no healthy child or adolescent should be excluded from school” because of head lice or nits.

The guidance recommends that if head lice is identified, the student’s caregiver should be notified by telephone or by having a note sent home with the child at the end of the school day, “stating that prompt, proper treatment of this condition is in the best interest of the child or adolescent and his or her classmates.”

The AAP recommends a variety of safe and affordable treatments that are able to rapidly rid children of live lice and nits.

Common sense and calm should prevail within a school when deciding how “contagious” an individual may be (a child or adolescent with hundreds versus a child or adolescent with 2 live lice). It may be prudent to check other children or adolescents who are symptomatic or who were most likely to have had direct head-to-head contact with the infested child or adolescent.

Some experts argue that, because of the relatively high prevalence of head lice in young school-aged children, it may make more sense to alert caregivers only if a high percentage of children in a classroom are infested. Other experts feel strongly that these “alert letters” violate privacy laws, cause unnecessary public alarm, and reinforce the notion that a head lice infestation indicates a failure on the school’s part rather than a community problem.

However, studies examining the efficacy of alert letters are not available; consequently, some schools choose to design guidelines that they believe best meet the needs of their student population, understanding that, although a head lice infestation may not pose a public health risk, it may create a public relations dilemma for a school. Regardless of the extent of the communication on a specific case, schools may wish to provide general education to their constituency that head lice is not a public health hazard.

The AAP argues against head lice screening programs in schools, stating that such programs “have not been proven to have a significant effect over time on the incidence of head lice” in schools, “are not cost-effective, and may stigmatize children suspected of having head lice.”

Instead, the AAP recommends “educational programs” to help families manage their children’s head lice.

“No healthy child or adolescent should be excluded from school or allowed to miss school time because of head lice or nits,” the AAP guidance says. “Medical providers should educate school communities that no-nit 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.”

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Stigmatize who...the lice?

We are doomed.

Next up, it’ll be a hate crime to not let your kid go to a sleepover at a house infested with bed bugs.

A few years ago, one of my kids had lice and I mentioned it to a co-worker at the very large office where we worked. An hour later, I get a notice from HR that *I* needed to vacate the premises immediately. I had no idea I was being stigmatized. If only I had consulted the AAP.

Lice?

FFS. Do we have to go full on 3rd world.

Where was the AAP when dictators closed schools for a supposed virus that the stats said virtually did not effect them?

The lost learning during the plandemic was far more harmful to student learning and mental health than head lice. This smells like a 'professional organization' that is more interested in politics than health, both mental and physical.

A friend of mine told me he fired his doctor because they required a mask to enter their office. He said when they asked why he was changing doctors he told them that if the doctor thought masking would do anything to alleviate spread of covid, then he didn't believe that the doctor was keeping up with current research and doubted he would get good care there.

(09-29-2022 08:27 PM)MileHighBronco Wrote:  Where was the AAP when dictators closed schools for a supposed virus that the stats said virtually did not effect them?

The lost learning during the plandemic was far more harmful to student learning and mental health than head lice. This smells like a 'professional organization' that is more interested in politics than health, both mental and physical.

A friend of mine told me he fired his doctor because they required a mask to enter their office. He said when they asked why he was changing doctors he told them that if the doctor thought masking would do anything to alleviate spread of covid, then he didn't believe that the doctor was keeping up with current research and doubted he would get good care there.

that was to protect the teachers, many of whom are morbidly obese, certainly prediabetic. I remember having hot teachers in Jr High and HS. Feel for these kids being punished because wine drinking and pot smoking teachers like to go home at 4 and eat at the trough.