Confirming Head Lice Elimination: A Parent's Guide

Head lice are a common childhood condition and are spread primarily through person-to-person contact of hair. They are also spread through the shared use of brushes, hats and other headwear.

No Live Lice

• Special shampoos kills lice.

  After the hair and scalp have been treated, there should be no live lice in the hair and the tickling feeling should be gone. Check the head and hair thoroughly to ensure the chemical treatment was successful, and continue checking for several weeks.

No Unhatched Eggs

• Lice eggs attach to the hair shaft.

  Chemical and other treatments only kill live lice. They do not kill the unhatched nit, or egg, that attach to the hair shaft. If the nit is alive, a nymph (baby lice) will soon emerge and start the cycle again. The nits should be "picked" before they hatch.

No Itching or Redness

• Young female children contract lice more often than their male counterparts.

  The lice bites cause itching and irritation that result in scratching and even scabbing. When the lice are gone, these symptoms will no longer be present.