LICE INFEST FIRST-GRADERS; 6 IN ONE CLASS PLAGUED BY PARASITIC INSECTS AT KATHERINE SCHOOL : WHAT TO DO.

Byline: Gloria Gonzales Daily News Staff Writer

The tiny critters have children scratching their heads and parents worried, but school officials insist that head lice are a normal sign of spring.

``It's not an epidemic, though some parents are calling it that,'' said Jean Borowsky, director of the Simi Valley Unified School District's Health Services Department. ``This year actually seems better than last year. It's already May, and we haven't had too many stubborn cases.''

But a few persistent cases at one elementary school have some parents worried. Letters went out in January warning parents about an outbreak of head lice in one first-grade classroom at Katherine Elementary. Since then, six of 17 youngsters in the unfortunate class have been infected at least once, according to one child's mother, Susan Johnston.

``The head lice (problem) isn't going away,'' Johnston said, upset about so many cases in her daughter's classroom. ``The school needs to revise its head lice policy and take a more aggressive approach.''

The district's policy is to send children home if lice or nits are found, said Katherine Elementary Principal Beverly Radloff.

``Children are sent home with information about treatment,'' Radloff said. ``Upon readmission, the child is checked again for nits and lice. But we can't check every single day. That's the parents' responsibility.''

Since the outbreak in the first grade, office workers at the school have spent about an hour each day checking children for lice.

``We've gone above and beyond the requirements of the district and the health department,'' Radloff said.

Lice - tiny, wingless insects - live on the scalp and lay their eggs on individual hair strands. Lice eggs will not hatch unless it at least 70 degrees outside, said Patty Knight, a public health nurse and lice expert.

The insects are spread through contact, and they do not carry disease, Knight said.

Because head lice - in Latin, Pediculus humanus capitis - are considered a nuisance rather than a health problem, no public agency keeps records on the number of children infested. But the National Pediculosis Society estimates that more than 5 percent of school-age children, or about 12 million youngsters, are infested.

Both Radloff and Knight feared that parental worry could turn into hysteria and that children with lice could be stigmatized.

``Head lice are not a sign of a dirty home or ill-kept child; anyone can get them,'' she said. ``We need to teach parents how to treat the problem.''

The most effective treatment is also the most tedious, said Knight. Shampoos, which often claim to kill lice and eggs, seldom kill eggs, she said. Parents must carefully comb out all nits to prevent recurring infestations, a process that can take hours.

Officials advise the following measures if your child comes home with head lice:

Treat scalp and hair with over-the-counter preparations such as RID, Nix, Clear or A-200. Over-the-counter treatments can become toxic with overuse, so follow directions carefully.

Use a fine-toothed metal comb to remove all nits from a child's scalp and hair. Nits, or lice eggs, look like grayish-white grains of sand glued to the side of a strand of hair. Use a bright light to make sure you detect all nits. Full-grown lice are reddish-brown and about the size of a sesame seed.

Wash linens and clothes in hot water and machine dry. Have nonwashable items dry-cleaned or store them in a sealed plastic bag for 20 days. Because lice can survive only about three days away from living scalp, storing items in plastic kills lice.

Soak combs and brushes in hot water.

As a preventive measure, after treating your child, vacuum furniture, mattresses, rugs and floor.

If you have a persistent lice problem, a Ventura County public health nurse will visit your home and teach preventive measures. Call the Simi Valley Public Health Clinic at 578-3675 for more information.

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