Smartphones causing rise in head lice
Scientists warn the stubborn ‘misery bugs’ could be shared as children huddle together to look at a screen
Smartphones have been blamed for increasing instances of head lice in schoolchildren. A study of more than 200 children found those who owned a smartphone or tablet were more than twice as likely to be infested, apparently from huddling round the devices to look at pictures or videos.
SMARTPHONES have been blamed for a dramatic rise in head lice among schoolchildren because they encourage youngsters to gather in groups, allowing the bugs to spread between heads.
A study of more than 200 youngsters found those who owned a smartphone or tablet were more than twice as likely to be infested with lice. Out of the 98 who did not have or use either type of device 29 (29.5 per cent) experienced head lice – compared with 65 of the 104 (62.5 per cent) who did.
Almost half of the participants had lice at some point in the previous five years, up to 22 times more than the figure of two to eight per cent that has been calculated in the past.
Taking regular “selfie” photographs was not a major factor in the rise, contrary to previous suggestions.
In 2015, Wisconsin GP Sharon Rink coined the phrase “social media lice”, claiming the upsurge in head lice was caused by friends bumping heads for group “selfies”.
Dr Tess Mcpherson, of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Compared to previous estimates of head lice incidence, our figures were much higher, showing that almost half of children have had them in the last five years, which may not come as a surprise to parents. We also noted that children with smartphones or tablets were more likely to get head lice, which is interesting but we can only guess that this is due to the way that young people gather around them, though there could be other reasons. ‘Selfie’ culture gets its fair share of negative press so it’s worth noting that despite previous speculation it seems that ‘selfies’ can’t specifically be blamed for helping the spread of head lice at this stage.”
The study presented at the British Association of Dermatologists’ annual conference in Liverpool said previous estimates of the prevalence of head lice in British children “may be conservative”.
It found 91 (45 per cent) of the children had had head lice in the last five years, a longer period than covered by earlier research. Girls with siblings aged six to nine were most commonly affected.
Matthew Gass, of the British Association of Dermatologists, said: “Head lice are a pain to deal with. Speaking from experience, they are intractable misery bugs that take far more time and effort to remove than is reasonable. Prevention is always better than a cure, particularly if the cure means wrenching your poor daughter’s hair with a finetoothed nit comb, or relying on over-the- counter remedies that head lice are increasingly resistant to.
“We’re not saying that smartphones are causing children to get head lice, but that there is a link, so if there’s an outbreak at home or at school, consider how electronic devices might cause children to congregate, allowing head lice to spread.”