Head Lice!

Dfox

We have one ee out today because she discovered that both she and her son have head lice. Should we notify her fellow ees about this? We have about 360 ees, should we notify all of them also?

Help!

deniseE

I would think that you're under some obligation to tell the employees, if for no other reason, than to help stop the spread of lice. I would not disclose which employee was the first case, though. Maybe your health department can give you some guidance?

School districts send notice home when a kid is found to have lice...and I believe that the student is prevented from returning to school until a dr. has verified that the lice is gone. That could just be PA law, though.

HRGirl

Denise,

I am in Pennsylvania and the school districts are not required to send a letter home at all. My mother and mother-in-law are teachers and told me that at one time it was okay but NO LONGER! I have experienced it first hand myself, my daughter had head lice in kindergarten, I found out that one of the other children in her class had it. We think they shared a play time hat and that was how it was spread. Last year, she had ringworm! After missing two days of school, I took her back and 3 other children had band-aids on their foreheads just like my kid. No one was ever notified.

I wonder if it has to do with the new HIPPA law?? Can anyone else answer that question??

DeidreFR5

I'd make a quick call to your local board of health and ask if they have procedure/ policy. I'd let employees know, "hidding" it from them never works in the long run.

rhr27

Unfortunately, we've been through this experience several times. The most important thing you can do is sanitize the employee's work area. Lice cannot survive away from the human body for more than 24 hours and do not jump or fly. A thorough cleaning and vaccuuming of the employee's work area should take care of any issues in the work place. I have created a helpful "Lice fact sheet" that we made available to our employees that I'd be happy to send to you if you'd like.

Dfox

Please send me a copy of your lice fact sheet. My email address is [email]foxhollowinn@yahoo.com[/email]. Thanks for your help!

blw

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 12-03-03 AT 03:24PM (CST)[/font][br][br]We work with children and that info might come in handy. Could you please fax to me at 210-431-6470. Tks, Barbara

Or email to [email]hr1@saum.org[/email]