Head lice on the march
In Germany, the incidence of head lice has increased over the past few years and is now higher than at any time since the 1960s. It is particularly interesting to note that there is a massive rise in the demand for anti-head lice products after the summer holidays and during the winter months. Geographically speaking, there is no evenly spread distribution for head lice infestation. Indeed, new regional “hot-spots” are flaring up all the time.
Whilst head lice infestation is not a notifiable condition (which would allow us to reliably evaluate the situation), individual questionnaires – such as the one conducted at a primary school in Düsseldorf – have revealed that almost 85% of all German school children have been infested with head lice at some time or other. Indeed, head lice are permanent ‘guests’ at many schools and kindergartens, their numbers sometimes reaching epidemic proportions. At all events, there has been a noticeable trend over the past 25 years; namely, head lice infestation is increasing dramatically on a worldwide basis. This also applies to countries in the Western world with high standards of hygiene.
Parasite experts believe the main cause of this increase to be the inappropriate way in which we tackle the problem. For instance, kindergartens and teachers send children home for treatment as a result of conspicuous head-scratching. However in the vast majority of cases, it is often overlooked that other children are also infested, because they are not yet showing any symptoms. Lice are then allowed to spread unimpeded. Also, the shame of parents plays a major role, as they still see head lice – quite wrongly – as a sign of inadequate hygiene. However, lice are quite unconcerned about the cleanliness of their host, as, during the course of evolution, they have learnt to adapt remarkably well to living conditions on the human head.