Report:'Nitty Norahs' (page 18 of 28)
Previous generations of school children were regularly checked for head lice by the school nurse; often affectionately known as ‘Nitty Norah’.
The liberal applications of insecticide they administered are now banned. But at least these ‘nit nurses’ were experienced at recognising cases of head lice infection.
Without the benefit of these school checks, today’s parents are left with the responsibility of monitoring, diagnosing and treating their children.
But research carried out in the US revealed that as many as half the suspected cases they examined had been wrongly diagnosed. They report: “non-infested children are quarantined as often as infected children.”
There is considerable pressure on parents to ensure their children don’t have head lice. So they don’t feel isolated from friends and class mates. Or in the case of exclusion, so they can return to their lessons as quickly as possible.
