My girlfriend and I recently blended a family with five children ages eleven to three. Along with all of the other challenges of parenting, checking for ticks (we live in the woods) is about to become a more frequent reality as we head into spring and summer. What about head lice, though?

Head Lice In Massachusetts: What You Need To Know

What are head lice?

The head louse, or Pediculus humanus capitis, is a parasitic insect that can be found on the head, eyebrows, and eyelashes of people. Head lice feed on human blood several times a day and live close to the human scalp. Head lice are not known to spread disease. -cdc

How often should you be checking for lice?

Lice are not contagious and are kind of just annoying and itchy, but you should be checking your child's hair for lice once a week.

Head Lice are still heavily stigmatized...

I was also under the assumption were contagious and had all to do with cleanliness.

1 in 5 children between the ages of 3 and 11 are likely to get lice. These are exactly the parameters currently in my house, hence this post!

Lice affect white children more than other races...

In the United States, infestation with head lice is much less common among African-Americans than among persons of other races, possibly because the claws of the head louse found most frequently in the United States are better adapted for grasping the shape and width of the hair shaft of other races.

Head lice spread from child to child via head to head contact. Lice cannot fly or hop, they only crawl.

Itching from lice can make it very difficult to sleep and inadvertent wounds can become infected with bacteria.