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| {{Head lice}}
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| {{CMG}}
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| ==Diagnosis==
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| [[Image:Bugbuster.jpg|left|thumb|Lice comb (Bug Buster) wet combing with conditioner for diagnosis and treatment. Head lice can be seen in foam.]]
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| The condition is diagnosed by the presence of lice or eggs in the hair, which is facilitated by using a magnifying glass or running a comb through the child's hair. In questionable cases, a child can be referred to a health professional. However, the condition is overdiagnosed, with extinct infestations being mistaken for active ones. As a result, lice-killing treatments are more often used on noninfested than infested children.<ref name="Pollack2000">{{cite journal | author = Pollack RJ, Kiszewski AE, Spielman A | title = Overdiagnosis and consequent mismanagement of head louse infestations in North America | journal = The Pediatric Infectious Diseases Journal | volume = 19 | issue = 8 | pages = 689–93 | year = 2000 | pmid = 10959734 | doi=10.1097/00006454-200008000-00003}}</ref> The use of a louse comb is the most effective way to detect living lice.<ref name="Mumcuoglu2001">{{cite journal
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| | author = Mumcuoglu KY, Friger M, Ioffe-Uspensky I, Ben-Ishai F, Miller J
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| | title = Louse comb versus direct visual examination for the diagnosis of head louse infestations
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| | journal = Pediatric dermatology
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| | volume = 18
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| | issue = 1
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| | pages = 9–12
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| | year = 2001
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| | pmid = 11207962
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| | url = http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/openurl?genre=article&sid=nlm:pubmed&issn=0736-8046&date=2001&volume=18&issue=1&spage=9
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| | doi = 10.1046/j.1525-1470.2001.018001009.x}}</ref> In cases of children with dirty, long and/or curly/frizzy hair, an alternative method of diagnosis is examination by parting the hair at 2 cm intervals to look for moving lice near the scalp{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}. With both methods, special attention should be paid to the area near the ears and the nape of the neck. The examiner should examine the scalp for at least 5 minutes{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}. The use of a magnifying glass to examine the material collected between the teeth of the comb could prevent misdiagnosis.
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| The presence of nits alone, however, is not an accurate indicator of an active head louse infestation. Children with nits on their hair have a 35-40% chance of also being infested with living lice and eggs.<ref name="Mumcuoglu2001"/><ref name="pmid11331679">{{cite journal |author=Williams LK, Reichert A, MacKenzie WR, Hightower AW, Blake PA |title=Lice, nits, and school policy |journal=Pediatrics |volume=107 |issue=5 |pages=1011–5 |year=2001 |pmid=11331679 |doi=10.1542/peds.107.5.1011}}</ref> If lice are detected, the entire family needs to be checked (especially children up to the age of 13 years) with a louse comb, and only those who are infested with living lice should be treated.
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| As long as no living lice are detected, the child should be considered negative for head louse infestation. Accordingly, a child should be treated with a pediculicide ONLY when living lice are detected on his/her hair (not because he/she has louse eggs/nits on the hair and not because the scalp is itchy).<ref name="pmid17668538">{{cite journal |author=Mumcuoglu KY, Barker SC, Burgess IE, Combescot-Lang C, Dalgleish RC, Larsen KS, Miller J, Roberts RJ, Taylan-Ozkan A |title=International guidelines for effective control of head louse infestations |journal=[[Journal of Drugs in Dermatology : JDD]] |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=409–14 |year=2007 |month=April |pmid=17668538 |doi= |url= |accessdate=2012-02-10}}</ref>
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| ==References==
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| {{reflist|2}}
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| {{WH}}
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| {{WikiDoc Sources}}
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| [[Category:Disease]]
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| [[Category:Infectious disease]]
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