When ever or wherever you and your family are in close contact with other people all are at risk of being infected with head lice.
The old myth that these creature only like clean hair, dirty hair or indeed have have any kind of preference is nonsense.
These things crawl from one head to another when there is close enough contact to allow that to happen.
They do not discriminate between people, hair colour or anything else.
All they do is search for another source of food and a place to lay their eggs.
A scalp where they can feed off blood is their source of nourishment and any available hair is the location they will lay eggs.
Often people will buy a shampoo thinking this will cure the problem.
As far as live head lice go this is to a large extent true.
Live creatures can certainly be killed with a proper dedicated shampoo designed for the job.
Once dead they can be washed from the hair whereas live lice have claws that allow them to grip onto hair shafts.
Once the adult critters have been dealt with it is what is left behind that leads to sometimes baffling re infestation.
The crux of the matter is the female louse lays each egg close to the scalp where the newly hatched has immediate access to a food source.
The other factor is every egg is very firmly attached to a hair shaft by a 'glue' produced by the female.
Therefore despite numerous washing the eggs will remain to hatch and continue the cycle.
In my experience as a parent who has been through this numerous times with my own children, there is only one truly effective remedy to head lice infestation.
Thorough washing with a dedicated over the counter shampoo and the total eradication of lice eggs with a nit comb which tugs them completely from the hair.
The old myth that these creature only like clean hair, dirty hair or indeed have have any kind of preference is nonsense.
These things crawl from one head to another when there is close enough contact to allow that to happen.
They do not discriminate between people, hair colour or anything else.
All they do is search for another source of food and a place to lay their eggs.
A scalp where they can feed off blood is their source of nourishment and any available hair is the location they will lay eggs.
Often people will buy a shampoo thinking this will cure the problem.
As far as live head lice go this is to a large extent true.
Live creatures can certainly be killed with a proper dedicated shampoo designed for the job.
Once dead they can be washed from the hair whereas live lice have claws that allow them to grip onto hair shafts.
Once the adult critters have been dealt with it is what is left behind that leads to sometimes baffling re infestation.
The crux of the matter is the female louse lays each egg close to the scalp where the newly hatched has immediate access to a food source.
The other factor is every egg is very firmly attached to a hair shaft by a 'glue' produced by the female.
Therefore despite numerous washing the eggs will remain to hatch and continue the cycle.
In my experience as a parent who has been through this numerous times with my own children, there is only one truly effective remedy to head lice infestation.
Thorough washing with a dedicated over the counter shampoo and the total eradication of lice eggs with a nit comb which tugs them completely from the hair.