Vernon Hills, IL, July 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lice Clinics of America–Northern IL reported that their two clinics in Vernon Hills and Spring Grove, which are part of the 200 clinic Lice Clinics of America network, saw an increase in lice treatments of 18 percent from April to May of this year, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Infestations of lice affecting entire families have been more severe during the pandemic, likely due to the fact that families have isolated at home together.
“We were deemed essential by the state and able to stay open throughout the pandemic, after making the necessary adjustments,” says Erin Hawn, who owns the Vernon Hills and Spring Grove locations with her husband Nick and belong to the Lice Clinics of America (LCA) network of clinics. “Families have been so thankful we were still available when they needed us. We've found that lice are spreading even more quickly than usual among family members while they've been stuck at home together for extended periods of time.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Head-to-head contact with an already infested person is the most common way to get head lice. Head-to-head contact is common during play at school, at home, and elsewhere, such as sports activities, the playground, slumber parties, and camps.” The CDC estimates 6-12 million infestations occur each year in the U.S. among children 3-11 years of age.
Dr. Krista Lauer, Medical Director of LCA, states, “If you have children who are elementary and middle-school ages, it’s important to take some immediate steps to either prevent your children from being infested or to properly treat and kill the lice before they spread to others in your family and social group.”
Dr. Lauer says, “First, don’t panic, and second, don’t be embarrassed. A head lice infestation has nothing to do with personal hygiene or the cleanliness of your environment. In fact, with recent shelter-in-place orders, head lice infestations more easily spread to everyone in the household due to close proximity.” She recommends the following to make sure lice aren’t living in your child’s hair:
- Inspect your own head and your child’s, especially if your child has an itchy scalp. Look for eggs, nymphs, and adult lice. One adult louse can lay about a hundred eggs during her life span. That’s a lot of new lice.
- Call the parents of your child’s friends and have them check for head lice, remembering that earlier intervention can help to reduce the infestation level. With shelter-in-place orders being lifted, kids are playing together again, and summer camps are in session.
- If you see lice—or if you are unsure whether you have lice—visit a professional lice treatment center such as Lice Clinics of America for a screening.
- Traditional over-the-counter treatments contain pesticides that are ineffective. Lice have evolved into “super lice” and have developed resistance to those pesticides. Find a treatment that is safe and effective. Lice Clinics of America has several options to choose from.
“All technicians and clients wear masks in our clinics, and we sterilize all touchpoints in the clinic between clients, and we provide hand sanitizer for staff and clients,” says Hawn. “The nature of our business means that we already had stringent sterilization procedures in place, but we have increased our safety protocols and limited clients in the clinic to one family at a time. In addition, we offer tele-tech video consultations at no charge and contactless curbside pickup or delivery of our over-the-counter treatment products.”
Lice Clinics of America is the world’s number-one service brand for treating head lice. The company’s revolutionary heated-air treatment is guaranteed to kill lice, lice eggs, and super lice in a single, one-hour treatment. Lice Clinics of America offers professional lice screenings and a full line of top-rated lice treatment and prevention products including professional solutions for parents with children at home.
For more information visit www.liceclinicsofamerica.com.
# # #
About Lice Clinics of America
With more than 300 clinics worldwide in 30 countries, Lice Clinics of America (www.LiceClinicsOfAmerica.com) is the largest network of professional head lice treatment centers in the world. Its patented heated-air device, AirAllé, has effectively treated more than 675,000 head lice infestations. Lice Clinics of America and AirAllé (www.airalle.com) are brands owned by Larada Sciences™, Inc., which is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.