Head lice now 'almost immune to treatment', parents warned
Parents are being warned of an outbreak of head lice in schools as the new term time looms.
The bugs - which spread through head-to-head contact and like clean hair - have become almost immune to treatment.
A new two-year study by the Journal of Medical Entomology claims the chemicals being used to fight them are not strong enough.
Andrew Hennessy of Hair Experts says there are a lot of misconceptions about lice.
"What we don't have in Ireland, and we desperately need, are policies in relation to this in schools, and then proper education," he said.
"So it's kind of a two-stage process: It's education about lice and how the spread properly - they don't jump, they don't hop or fly, so it's head-to-head contact.
"It's that type of information that need to be spread - as we say: Spread the word, not the problem."
"Detection is the key," he added.
"We don’t have an ethos of preventative combing, which is the big problem in Ireland.
"So we usually hit the problem head-on, too late, and then we run to the pharmacy, get a couple of products, we put them in, and we keep going until basically we realise that it’s too late in the day."
