Lice 911 - Business in Maple Ridge Vancouver Sun

A lousy job, but someone's got to do it
Denise Ryan, Vancouver SunPublished: Thursday, November 27, 2008
VANCOUVER - If you're a parent who has received one of your school's dreaded lice notices this fall, take heart. Your head may be itchy, but you're not alone.
"There's a higher concentration of lice and nits in Vancouver this year," said
A lousy job, but someone's got to do it
Denise Ryan, Vancouver SunPublished: Thursday, November 27, 2008
VANCOUVER - If you're a parent who has received one of your school's dreaded lice notices this fall, take heart. Your head may be itchy, but you're not alone.
"There's a higher concentration of lice and nits in Vancouver this year," said Barbara Pattison of Lice 911 (www.lice911.com), a Maple Ridge-based company that does louse treatments in schools as well as house calls. "Last year it was Langley, the year before it was Surrey, and this year it's Vancouver."
Although lice can spread rapidly, they don't carry or transmit disease, so Vancouver Coastal Health doesn't track or keep statistics on outbreaks.

Vancouver school board spokesman Dave Weir said the VSB doesn't keep stats either on school outbreaks, but schools work with public health nurses to educate the public when there is an outbreak.
"The medical health officer has taken a position of not excluding students that have lice or nits, and public health will teach parents how to care for children at home," Weir said.
But checking for and treating lice and nits -- louse eggs -- isn't that easy. Pattison said lice and nits are notoriously hard to get rid of, and the stigma attached to having an infestation makes it much harder to deal with. Plus, often parents may not know what to look for.
"By the time most kids are scratching, they've had it for about a month," Pattison said. "Often parents don't report it to the school, and that's how outbreaks get worse."
Pattison, and her business partner Darlene Miller -- known as the "lice ladies" -- do house calls to teach parents how to find and get rid of lice and nits using the non-toxic wet-combing method that is supported by most health nurses and pediatricians.
Clusters of outbreaks typically occur three or four times a year, after each of the major holidays. The lice ladies recommend schools and parents check regularly for the pests, but especially after summer, Christmas and Easter breaks.
"That's when kids have been having sleepovers. Head lice [are] also caught a lot on airplanes and buses."
Pattison has seen outbreaks in private and public schools, but said there is still a stigma associating lice with a lack of hygiene or a particular economic strata.
"We've never been to a school and not found anyone infested," Pattison said.
"Head lice don't care about what's in a bank account. We've seen head lice in some of the most prestigious schools in Vancouver."
The reason lice have become a more common problem is twofold, said Pattison. Chemical solutions don't kill all the nits, leaving some to hatch, and there are super-strains of pesticide-resistant lice.
In order to treat an infestation properly "You have to go in with a wet lice comb, hair conditioner. Go in with a great comb and get out every nit."
This can take from one to three hours per person in the household, and must be repeated every two or three days.
The lice ladies use a magnifier and a specialized lice comb called a LiceMeister that is recommended by the National Pediculosis Association.
Vancouver parent Charlotte French is meticulous about keeping her kids lice-free, and volunteers in their elementary school to help other parents learn to recognize and treat the problem. Although she supports daily comb-outs and the Lice Meister comb, she advocates doing "whatever is necessary, whether it's using a chemical treatment as well as comb-outs. Keep checking every week. The earlier you catch it, the easier it is to treat." of Lice 911 (www.lice911.com), a Maple Ridge-based company that does louse treatments in schools as well as house calls. "Last year it was Langley, the year before it was Surrey, and this year it's Vancouver."
Although lice can spread rapidly, they don't carry or transmit disease, so Vancouver Coastal Health doesn't track or keep statistics on outbreaks.


Vancouver school board spokesman Dave Weir said the VSB doesn't keep stats either on school outbreaks, but schools work with public health nurses to educate the public when there is an outbreak.
"The medical health officer has taken a position of not excluding students that have lice or nits, and public health will teach parents how to care for children at home," Weir said.
But checking for and treating lice and nits -- louse eggs -- isn't that easy. Pattison said lice and nits are notoriously hard to get rid of, and the stigma attached to having an infestation makes it much harder to deal with. Plus, often parents may not know what to look for.
"By the time most kids are scratching, they've had it for about a month," Pattison said. "Often parents don't report it to the school, and that's how outbreaks get worse."
Pattison, and her business partner Darlene Miller -- known as the "lice ladies" -- do house calls to teach parents how to find and get rid of lice and nits using the non-toxic wet-combing method that is supported by most health nurses and pediatricians.
Clusters of outbreaks typically occur three or four times a year, after each of the major holidays. The lice ladies recommend schools and parents check regularly for the pests, but especially after summer, Christmas and Easter breaks.
"That's when kids have been having sleepovers. Head lice [are] also caught a lot on airplanes and buses."
Pattison has seen outbreaks in private and public schools, but said there is still a stigma associating lice with a lack of hygiene or a particular economic strata.
"We've never been to a school and not found anyone infested," Pattison said.
"Head lice don't care about what's in a bank account. We've seen head lice in some of the most prestigious schools in Vancouver."
The reason lice have become a more common problem is twofold, said Pattison. Chemical solutions don't kill all the nits, leaving some to hatch, and there are super-strains of pesticide-resistant lice.
In order to treat an infestation properly "You have to go in with a wet lice comb, hair conditioner. Go in with a great comb and get out every nit."
This can take from one to three hours per person in the household, and must be repeated every two or three days.
The lice ladies use a magnifier and a specialized lice comb called a LiceMeister that is recommended by the National Pediculosis Association.
Vancouver parent Charlotte French is meticulous about keeping her kids lice-free, and volunteers in their elementary school to help other parents learn to recognize and treat the problem. Although she supports daily comb-outs and the Lice Meister comb, she advocates doing "whatever is necessary, whether it's using a chemical treatment as well as comb-outs. Keep checking every week. The earlier you catch it, the easier it is to treat."