Headlice
Headlice are six-legged, crawling insects that are about the size of a sesame seed. Initially when they hatch they are greyish white in colour but gradually change to a reddish brown colour when they start feeding from the scalp.
Nits are the egg cases and are a pale creamy colour. They are attached firmly to the hair shaft and can be difficult to remove by combing alone.
Headlice or nits only live on humans, setting up camp on or close to the scalp where they can bite and suck up blood. They can only be passed from person to person by close head to head contact and cannot jump, fly or swim.
The adult head louse will lay about 4-5 eggs a day and can live for up to five weeks. The eggs are attached to individual hairs close to the scalp. After 7-10 days the eggs hatch leaving an empty egg case on the hair.
The newly-hatched headlice feed on the scalp for about 7-10 days until they begin laying eggs. Left unchecked this cycle will continue.
The first telltale sign of an infection is usually a child absent-mindedly scratching their head. This can create sores that, if left untreated, may become infected.
However, not all people with headlice have an itchy scalp, so although an itchy head may mean head lice, checking the scalp regularly is a more reliable method of detection.
