Kokua Line
Kokua Line
Question: I teach at a public school in Kalihi and many of my students frequently get ukus. What is the Department of Education's policy? Speaking with my colleagues from other schools at Kahala, Mililani and Koko Head, many of their students are sent home and not permitted back until the problem is gone. In Kalihi, the students are allowed to return to schools with the ukus. This is not only a nuisance but also a health problem to other students and the teacher as well. Health Department treats
school head lice problemsAnswer: There is no overall Department of Education policy as to when children with ukus (head lice) are allowed back -- it's left up to each school, said department spokesman Greg Knudsen.
However, the Department of Health does have a procedure for handling the pesky nits, said Ruth Ota, chief of the Public Health Nursing Branch. A public health nurse is assigned to each public school.
The procedure involves notifying parents and advising them on how to treat their child's hair to get rid of the lice. The treatment usually extends to checking other family members for the lice, as well as cleaning the home and washing bedding, towels, brushes and combs, etc.
Once a child is treated with a special shampoo and the nits are removed, he or she should be able to return, Ota said.
She said she's not sure if it's true that students are sent back to school with ukus, "because our health aides do check the kids back."
If parents are having difficulty in resolving the problem for whatever reason, the public health nurses will work with the family, she said, adding that it requires "a lot of work."
But "we really want the child back in school," Ota said. "We don't want to keep children out of school because of ukus, because it's not a disease; it's more a social nuisance."
Also, a common misperception is that the lice can jump from one head to another. That's not true, Ota said, noting that there has to be head-to-head contact or the sharing of hair brushes or combs.
Schools have to watch out for those situations or, if there is classroom carpeting, they must ensure the carpets are regularly vacuumed, she said.
It might surprise you to learn that the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Association of School Nurses do not recommend a "no-nit policy" on a child's return to school because treatment usually gets rid of louse eggs and prevent new lice from spreading. We got that information from a Web site on ukus by Straub Clinic and Hospital: http://www.straubhealth.com/ others/ukus.html
If you believe students with lice are in school, Ota advised talking with the public health nursing supervisor assigned to your school.
The nurses "will work with the schools in terms of their unique (situations)," determining what the issues are and bringing families in for meetings, if need be, she said.
"In some schools, it is a real problem," Ota said, adding that it's something health officials have struggled with for years.
Auwe
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