Selfie takers could be targets of head lice

Head lice cases spike in middle and high school students

WPLG--Some health experts say that teens should keep those selfies to themselves.

"Kids are putting their heads together and taking pictures like that and touching heads and that's all it takes to spread lice," Michele Barrack, of Lice Lifters Treatment Center, said.

Lice are tiny, barely visible parasites that sling onto hair. They have long been a problem at day care centers and preschools.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said up to 12 million children between 3 and 11 years old are affected by lice every year.

Frankie Richards, 11, has had lice on and off for four years.

"It's just getting passed and passed and passed," Flo Richards, Frankie's mother, said. "I get rid of it 90 percent of the time and within a week or two weeks, the bugs are kicking again."

Now they're in the hair of older children.

"It's really itchy and it's gross to think you have bugs in your hair," Jamie Bloom, 13, said. "It's really annoying."
Workers at a lice treatment center in Coral Springs have noticed a change in the demographics of lice patients.
"I've seen I would say half of my clientele is now middle and high school versus elementary school," Barrack said.

A Wisconsin pediatrician calls the bugs "social media lice."

While there's no scientific proof that selfie snapping is to blame for spread of lice, studies show that lice in 25 states, including Florida, is now resistant to over-the-counter treatments.

The so-called “super lice” make it hard for families to get rid of the bugs.

Haley Stau, 13, remembers the moment she was told she and her friends had lice.

"I was like, That's disgusting," she said. "There are actually living breathing insects in my hair. That's disgusting."
Technicians pick out lice like Lice Lifters specially formulated prescription shampoos to pick out w lice.

The best way to prevent lice is to keep your hair to yourself, experts say.