900 Min 
In Learning
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Although it’s not known exactly how many people will get head lice in any given year, it’s thought that about three million people may be affected – most of them children. This makes head lice a subject you are likely to be asked about quite often.
Objectives
This module will tell you how to:
- Recognise the possible signs of head lice
- Understand the actions and uses of different types of treatments available
- Offer additional advice to the customer to manage the condition
- Know when to refer to the pharmacist.
Head lice (Pediculus capitis) are small insects that live exclusively on human heads. While anyone can get head lice, they tend to be more common in younger children. Those aged between four and 11 years are most susceptible because head lice are passed from one person to another by head-to-head contact – something that children frequently do while playing or in the classroom. It can take up to 30 seconds to catch head lice.
If head lice are picked up at school, the child may then bring them home and pass them round the rest of the family. It is not true that head lice are only found on dirty heads. In fact, they will happily live in either clean or dirty hair.
