Lice exposure: WWYD?

[mamato3 all-boy boys]

Two other families and mine get together weekly to do TOG activities and geography. We rotate our meetings amongst our three homes.

 

Three weeks ago now, one family found lice; they treated it, and it seems to be under control -- they've only found dead lice, no nits or nymphs; we are all staying away from her house. But, we have seen them in our group setting. I'm pretty naive about lice (we've never had them), so i didn't have a problem with them at my house once and at the third family's house once.

 

Now, the third family has found them on their oldest daughter's head. We cancelled our unit celebration dinner that had been planned for this weekend, and now I'm wondering if my family just needs to stay clear of both families for a couple weeks.

 

So, my question is: Should we cancel our meeting on Thursday to prevent any future lice transmission? With Thanksgiving the following week, we will not meet, so it could be a full three weeks since we would've had contact with any of our friends with lice.

 

TIA

[Firefly]

I am paranoid about lice so yeah, I would probably avoid spending time with anyone who had it. That said, if they are treating the lice the chances of your children getting it is very small. If you do decide to get together, I'd wear a hat/bandana. Also, applying a bit of tea tree oil on the hair is supposed to act as a deterrent.

[NorthwestMom]

With the Thanksgiving break coming up, I would just cancel and let it die down, so to speak.

[abbeyej]

If it were me, I probably wouldn't cancel, but I might tie scarves / bandanas over everyone's hair (and braid up any long hair before covering) before going, and come home immediately to wash the scarves in hot water and wash hair with tea tree oil shampoo (Jāsön brand or similar)... Also, because of your past exposures, I might go ahead and get a metal nit comb and go through the kids' hair now, even though you haven't seen anything. It's worth checking now...

 

(We've only had lice once, and I'd never seen them before that either. Still, it's gross and I would want to be careful. But I wouldn't necessarily cancel other plans, especially when you've already *been* exposed a few times...)

[Starr]

It'a easiest to stay home. Getting rid of lice is a big pain. They all need to sit under a bright light and have their hair carefully combed through while looking for nits. It wouldn't hurt to check your kids as well. The sooner caught the better. :)

[mamato3 all-boy boys]

Thanks for confirming my gut reaction. If the second family hadn't gotten it, I wouldn't be so nervous about it. In my minds eye, I remember our last Thurs. meeting, and the kids were playing Card Jitsu on the floor, all heads bent toward one another.....I can picture little lice jumping from head to head (I know they don't jump, but it is my exaggerated imagination).

 

We've been on lice lookout since this happened and my now very-experienced "nit picking" friend checked through my hair after church. She didn't find anything, and it gives me much peace to know that we are in the clear, so far.

 

However, every time I get a little twitch on my head, I freak out. :glare:

[Scarlett]

However, every time I get a little twitch on my head, I freak out. :glare:

 

Wow, do I know what you mean! I've never had lice, nor has my son, but one time I slept with my niece and nephew when they were like 3 and 6 and my poor SIL had to call me up the next day to tell me they had lice. I itched for weeks! Thankfully where I worked had a company nurse and she checked me several times.

[teamturner]

However, every time I get a little twitch on my head, I freak out. :glare:

 

:lol: I can relate to this. Whenever we've been exposed to lice, my head is suddenly very itchy!! Especially when I think about lice.