Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Head lice seem back in force in NYC schools. Here's how to prevent and treat them.
By
Caroline Lewis
Published Dec 26, 2023
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
SCIEPRO / Getty Images
By
Caroline Lewis
Published Dec 26, 2023
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Several New York City-based delousers who screen for and treat head lice say that although business dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic, they're now as busy as ever.
The city’s Department of Education does not keep any centralized data on lice cases, and couldn’t verify how infestations among public school children compare to past school years. But representatives for five companies that spoke to Gothamist said they are seeing worse lice outbreaks now than they have in recent years.
Lice are not dangerous or known to spread disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But they can be a headache for parents, who may be left trying to sift through conflicting advice about how to get rid of the little buggers — and prevent them from coming back.
Dr. Dawn Nolt, a pediatrician and infectious disease expert who helped craft the American Academy of Pediatrics’ latest guidance on head lice, said her biggest piece of advice is not to panic – or point fingers.
“We should not stigmatize anyone or shame anyone with head lice,” Nolt said. “It's not a health concern. It's not a sign of poor hygiene. It's not responsible for the spread of any infections.”
Lice appeared to be less prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic, when kids were social distancing, and things have slowly been getting back to normal, said Adie Horowitz, the president and “lice diva” at Licenders. The company has lice clinics in Midtown and on the Upper East Side, where staffers carefully comb the lice out of children’s hair. Her observations line up with studies of lice outbreaks in several countries that saw steep drop-offs in 2020.
“It's always like this in the fall,” Horowitz said. “It just hasn't been like this for the past couple of years, so the parents forgot about it.”
Every time my husband or son scratches their head, I have a mini panic attack.
Jessica Liese of Washington Heights, who caught lice from her second-grader.
But others who spoke to Gothamist said they were seeing particularly bad outbreaks.
Lice Busters, which operates delousing salons in Midwood and Park Slope, has screened children for lice in about 35 public and private schools across the city this year, according to the company's president, Daniel Harel. Harel said outbreaks typically affect just a handful of kids at a given school. This year, however, he said he’s seeing outbreaks that affect a much larger share of children, though he declined to name the schools that have had it the worst.
“For us, it works out,” he said. “It’s keeping us busy.”
Adrian Picheny of the Lice Treatment Center shared a similar observation: “There was a resurgence of lice last year. But this year it’s been worse than ever. Or, for us, better than ever.”
Jessica Liese of Washington Heights said she and her husband caught lice from her second-grader this fall. His school sent out multiple notices about cases of lice, sparking concern among parents, said Liese, who shared one of the notices with Gothamist. She said she was still hearing of lice cases at her son’s school earlier this month.
Liese said her family is now lice-free after getting their hair combed out at Licenders in Midtown and using the over-the-counter medication permethrin. But she fears they’ll return.
“Once I was in the clear, I had my hair cut short,” Liese said. “It won't prevent anything but it will at least make the treatment easier if we get it again. Every time my husband or son scratches their head, I have a mini panic attack.”
Gothamist spoke with experts, delousing companies and city officials about the tiny parasites, school policy and the effectiveness of different treatments as kids prepare to head back to class after the holidays.
Do New York schools screen for lice?
The American Academy of Pediatrics advocates for educational programs that teach parents how to manage head lice, rather than any broad screenings, saying such screenings haven’t been shown to reduce outbreaks, aren’t cost-effective and can stigmatize children.
NYC’s Department of Education, for its part, doesn’t contract with outside companies to screen for lice, according to spokesperson Jenna Lyle. But the companies that spoke with Gothamist said they are sometimes hired by public and private schools directly or by parent teacher associations to do checks.
When should a child stay home from school?
New York City public schools require children who have live lice to stay home and get treated.
“Students may return to school the day after treatment for head lice as long as there are no live lice upon re-inspection by designated school personnel,” according to city policy.
But children who only have nits, or lice eggs, are allowed to go to class – a policy that Lyle said has been in effect since 2016. Some of the delousers who spoke to Gothamist criticized that policy for not being proactive enough. But it’s consistent with guidance from the CDC, which warns that nits can be difficult to correctly identify and are unlikely to spread from person to person. It also says even when live lice are found, there’s no need to send a student home early — they can be treated after returning home at the end of a regular school day.
The American Academy of Pediatrics also disapproves of “no-nit” policies in schools in its latest guidance and goes a step further, saying a child with an active lice infestation should remain in class.
“Children should not be rubbing their heads up against each other,” Nolt, the pediatrician, said. “But a child should not lose any school time because of this.”
Seeking effective treatments
Delousers who spoke to Gothamist said they go through the painstaking process of combing out nits and lice with a fine-tooth comb, which Nolt agreed can be effective, though time-consuming.
The delousers also described using essential oils and other alternative remedies for lice treatment. But Nolt encouraged parents to try products specifically approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a first line of defense.
“Follow directions,” Nolt said. “If it doesn't quite work, maybe do it another time.”
Over-the-counter lotions Nix and Sklice are among the FDA-approved treatments. These contain the insecticides permethrin and ivermectin, respectively. The downside, though, is that they can make an already-itchy scalp even itchier.
“As the infestation goes away, the itchiness will calm down,” Nolt said.
She added that combing can also be combined with other treatments.
“It is one way to remove dead lice so that it decreases the suspicion that there's still a treatment failure,” Nolt said.
Is there really such a thing as 'super lice?'
Some of the delousers said they use alternative treatments because they worry over-the-counter insecticides like permethrin won’t be effective on so-called “super lice.” — lice that have undergone genetic mutations that make them resistant to insecticides.
Nolt said there’s evidence that lice with such genetic mutations exist, but it’s still unclear whether those mutations have “real-world implications” that diminish the effectiveness of certain treatments.
How to prevent a lice infestation
“What we want to emphasize is that lice don't hop or jump or fly away to someone else,” Nolt said. “Really, lice is spread by close head-to-head contact.”
Delousers who spoke with Gothamist suggested that children with long hair should wear it tied back to keep contact with other kids at a minimum.
Nolt added that despite concerns about sharing hats or helmets, “It's very rare to be transmitted through inanimate objects.”
Still, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that if a child comes home with lice, any household items that may have come in contact with the child’s head within the previous 48 hours — such as clothing, stuffed animals, and furniture — should be machine-washed and dried at high temperatures, vacuumed or placed in plastic bags for two weeks. And the whole family should have their scalps checked, just in case.
What time of year to expect lice
While the start of school or summer camp may be more associated with lice than the dead of winter, these creatures don’t really have an off-season, Nolt said.
“They can survive anywhere at any time,” she said. “Your suspicion about head lice should remain high, regardless of the time of year.”
Tagged
new york city
education
Health and Science
Caroline Lewis
Caroline Lewis is on the health care beat for WNYC and Gothamist. She has covered COVID, a nurses' strike, the overdose crisis and New York’s marijuana legalization effort, and spent a year investigating patients' medical bills. She always wants to hear about how everyday New Yorkers experience the health system. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Manhattan DA argues judge shouldn't dismiss state charges against Luigi Mangione
He pleaded guilty to separate charges in federal court this summer.
By
Samantha Max
Published Oct 9, 2026 at 3:44 p.m. ET
Feds blame NYC's sanctuary policies for violent ICE arrest in Marble Hill
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said ICE agents were unaware a child was in the vehicle they fired on during the arrest.
By
Arya Sundaram
News
Feds blame NYC's sanctuary policies for violent ICE arrest in Marble Hill
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said ICE agents were unaware a child was in the vehicle they fired on during the arrest.
By
Arya Sundaram
NYPD rushed man shot by ICE to hospital in police SUV, bodycam footage shows
By
Ben Feuerherd
Pencils down: NYC lawmakers want to switch back to paper tests as state mandates screens
By
Jessica Gould
Penn Station’s future could be determined by midterm elections
By
Stephen Nessen
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .