DENVER AND BOULDER HEAD LICE INFESTATION IN FAMILIES

LiceDoctors’ studies show if one child in your family has head lice, be on the lookout: chances are you have picked up the case from her or him.

Denver and Boulder head lice infestations are very common among pre-school and elementary school children. Because lice are so contagious, often the families of these children will have the head lice infestation, as well. Denver was the first city in which LiceDoctors began treating families over a decade ago. The company has tracked clients, and in over 70% of families, if one child has lice, another family member has it as well. 

Why Do Head Lice Spread So Often Within Families?

Increased physical contact with other school children increases the possibility of children getting head lice. Based on our empirical evidence of treating thousands of Denver area clients, we know that head lice are spread through direct contact from an infested head to a clean head. This is backed up by the CDC: “Head lice are spread most commonly by direct head-to-head (hair-to-hair) contact. However, much less frequently they are spread by sharing clothing or belongings onto which lice have crawled or nits attached to shed hairs may have fallen.”  https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/lice/head/prevent.html

The Younger the Children, the More Likely that Head Lice Will Spread Within the Family

Think about it. When you were a teenager, you were likely out with your friends

or possibly holed up in your room doing your homework or hanging out listening to music. Chances are you were not cuddling with mom or dad. 

Little children are often hugging mom or being carried around by dad. They go to day care or school and play on top of their friends; they are playing with blocks sitting right next to each other or drawing pictures together. There is ample opportunity for a louse to crawl from an infested child to a child whose head is lice-free. Then that child returns home and within a few days, that louse has left several eggs in the hair which then hatch and those bugs are soon ready and able to move to mom’s head. In fact, each louse lays between 5 and 10 eggs a day so you can see that it doesn’t take long for other family members to become infested.

Remember that “head lice are crawling insects. They cannot jump, hop, or fly. The main way head lice spread is from close, prolonged head-to-head contact. There is a very small chance that head lice will spread by sharing items such as combs, brushes, and hats.” HealthyChildren.org

If you keep in mind that head lice are a) very common among young children and b) very easily transferred within families due to close proximity, that will help you to understand why your family may be under siege from these pests.  While it is easy to be advised to avoid head to head contact, that is often not feasible to do with young children. In the US where the CDC estimates up to 12 million kids are infested with head lice, you need to be prepared to tackle a case of head lice head on, should you find it in your family.

To eradicate the case within your family, LiceDoctors provides a professional in-home lice removal in Denver, Boulder, and all surrounding cities and towns. Your experienced technician will come to your home and will check and treat your whole family and get you the results you want...naturally and safely and efficiently. You will be pleased with the results…we guarantee it! Call 720-292-1991 to make an appointment today!