Lice do not discriminate based on socioeconomic status

Lice like clean hair more than dirty hair

There are more than12 million reported cases of lice in the US every year and it is estimated that 1 in 4 children will get lice sometime in their life

Lice are tiny little wingless parasites that crawl very quickly. They are only about 2mm-4mm in size. Lice are not able to fly, hop or jump from person to person.

Lice are blood-sucking parasites. They need a human host to survive. Once off of their human host, they will only survive for 24-72 hours.

People get lice from close human contact and from sharing personal items with an infected person.

Nits are not contagious. Nits can only be laid by lice.

You can’t get head lice from pets.

Lice bites may cause itching and inflammation and can become infected if not treated.

You must manually remove, either by combing or nit-picking, every louse and nit off the head.  Leaving even one viable nit on the head will create another infestation.  Manual removal is the only guaranteed way to get rid of a head lice infestation.