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New CDC policy: If your kid has lice, they can stay at school [1]

['Allan Rose Hill']

Date: 2024-08-16

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its "no nit" policies for schools dealing with lice. Surprisingly, if a student has lice, they no longer need to be sent home.

"Students with lice can go home at the end of the day, be treated, and return to class after beginning appropriate treatment," according to the CDC.

Here's their rationale for the change that many parents will likely denounce as, er, lousy policy:

* Many nits are more than ¼ inch from the scalp and are unlikely to hatch to become crawling lice, or may in fact be empty shells (i.e., casings).

* Nits bond to hair shafts and are very unlikely to transfer to other people.

* Unnecessary days off cause a burden to the students, families, and communities, and far outweighs the risks associated with head lice.

* Misdiagnosis of nits is very common during nit checks conducted by nonmedical professionals.

Meanwhile, some folk remedies that likely won't win the battle against the bugs:

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