Integrated Pest Management at Home Series: Does your head itch? Facts About Head Lice
EDIS Cover Volume 2025 Number 1 cucumber flower image
View on Ask IFAS
PDF 2025

Keywords

head lice
louse control
Pediculus humanus capitis
pediculosis capitis

Categories

How to Cite

Nelson, Nelly, LuAnn Duncan, Jenny Rodriguez, Katherine Allen, Karen Stauderman, Lisa Hamilton, and Faith Oi. 2025. “Integrated Pest Management at Home Series: Does Your Head Itch? Facts About Head Lice: ENY2118 IN1440; 12 2024”. EDIS 2025 (1). Gainesville, FL. https://doi.org/10.32473/edis-in1440-2024.

Abstract

My head is itchy... could I have head lice? What are head lice? How do people get them? How do people inspect for them? How can people treat head lice? What should schools do about head lice? Will pesticides work? Will home remedies work? What can happen?!

Integrative Pest Management in the Home to the rescue!

The IPM at Home Series is a county faculty initiative intended to provide answers to frequently asked questions about household pests. This publication answers common questions about head lice. Aimed at the general public and delivered in a friendly, matter-of-fact style, it is intended to allay fears and provide practical help for people experiencing a common--and fortunately eminently solvable--problem.

https://doi.org/10.32473/edis-in1440-2024
View on Ask IFAS
PDF 2025

References

American Academy of Dermatology. 2013. Head Lice: How to Treat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxA59erWM5w (accessed: July 27, 2023)

Center for Disease Control. 2019. Head Lice: Epidemiology and Risk Factors. https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/lice/head/epi.html (accessed: July 27, 2023)

Center for Disease Control Treatment of Head Lice. April 8, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/lice/treatment/index.html (accessed: September 23, 2024)

Nemours Kids Health https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/head-lice.html (accessed: July 27, 2023)

Oi, F. M. 2011. Chapter 6: Lice, p 538. In Mallis, Handbook of Pest Control, 10th ed. GIE Media. 1599 pp.

Pollack, R.J., A. E. Kiszewski, and A. Spielman. 2000. “Overdiagnosis and consequent mismanagement of head louse infestations in North America.” Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. 19 (8):689–693. https://doi.org/10.1097/00006454-200008000-00003

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Copyright (c) 2025 UF/IFAS