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Bug Busting for schools and the wider community

Bug Busting is an educational programme in reliable head louse detection. It delivers the 'whole school approach' (National Healthy School Standard).

Pupils take home the information that parents need in a friendly Bug Buster Kit. The children motivate their families to check all members properly on

National Bug Busting Days:

You can choose any date that suits your timetable for a school Bug Busting Day, but the most effective dates to take part are the National Bug Busting Days: 31 January, 15 June and 31 October, every year. Many schools across the country take part on these dates, and by synchronizing Bug Busting across the country you can help prevent head lice from circulating.

• Often cases are light and easily missed in the usual inspection, but still very contagious
• Some products that claim to kill lice and their eggs in one application are not reliable, but parents do not realise in time
• Even if treatment is successful, children catch lice again shortly afterwards

Why take part on Bug Busting Days?

Because informed, united action stops head lice from circulating endlessly. Combing wet, conditioned hair with a Bug Buster comb is a reliable detection method even when very few lice are present. Thoroughly wet lice stay still; dry or damp lice move quickly away from disturbance evading detection.

Why use the Bug Buster Kit?

Our Bug Buster® comb is unique in design. The spacing between the teeth is narrow enough to trap the smallest lice but wide enough to pass easily through the hair. There is an exact balance between the slim handle and the deeply beveled edge of the teeth. This ensures that the teeth slip into the hair roots at the correct angle. They slide naturally under the lice which live mainly near the scalp for food and warmth. Then the sweep of the square tooth shanks to the tips of the tress gently lifts the lice out. They remain motionless in the conditioner, which is wiped off the comb onto paper tissue between stokes. Lice are easy to identify on the paper, which is especially helpful for people who are inexperienced. To make doubly sure that no lice are missed, the combing is repeated in the wet hair after the conditioner is rinsed off. This time they show up clearly against the fluorescent yellow plastic. Wet lice will not escape onto the tresses you have already checked while you complete the combing. Short interruptions during Bug Busting to answer the door bell etc. won’t matter.

The Bug Buster Kit provides the best combs and full information to enable parents to:

• Detect lice reliably even when there are only one or two on the head – other combs slide over tiny newly-hatched lice
• Clear head lice completely without having to buy any special treatment – the Kit is re-usable with ordinary family shampoo and conditioner
• Eliminate unsightly eggshells (nits) comfortably
  

Real facts about head lice

• The eggs of head lice usually take 7 to 10 days to hatch (recorded range 5 to 11 days). Live eggs and head lice are not easily spotted on the head
• The school nurse cannot solve the head louse problem for schools and parents.
• Combing dry or damp hair with a fine-tooth comb is not a reliable way to detect lice, and especially deceptive in short, straight hair, where you would think it would be easy.
• Metal combs are not suitable for louse detection because these combs are primarily nit combs. Lice caught between the tightly spaced teeth remain unnoticed against the metal and can be combed back into the hair unharmed at subsequent strokes.
• There are no studies proving that wet head lice grasp hairs more tightly, hampering their removal with a fine-tooth comb.
• It is not scientifically proven that head to head contact has to be prolonged to catch lice - close contact is enough.
• Head lice are a community problem About 20% of cases are amongst people over 16 or under 4 years old. A community led by local schools in the celebration of Bug Busting days can solve the problem.

A successful strategy for head louse control

The late Dr RJ Donaldson, affectionately known as Paddy, demonstrated in the 1970s that an intensive detection/treatment campaign can dramatically cut the prevalence of head lice. He was the tireless mentor of the Bug Busting Days organised by Community Hygiene Concern, taking a personal interest from 1986 in our development of wet methods of detection in preference to less effective dry or damp methods. Today Bug Busting Days are organised in partnership with the Department of Health<.

“Public education is, indeed, a most effective insecticide”

The goal must be informed self-care, co-ordinated by community health, schools and nurseries, given that head lice affect most families from the time the first child begins to socialise with other children.

Community Hygiene Concern (CHC) is a non profit-making organisation set up in 1988 to help schools, community health services and parents cope successfully with head lice. Using action research techniques, we assess methods of detection and cure, working with families and schools. We disseminate information on best practice when we find evidence of effectiveness. We welcome independent evaluation of our findings. To date the only re-usable treatment for head lice, tested in independent clinical trials that have been reported in peer reviewed journals, is the Bug Buster Kit. Find out more

By encouraging schools to participate in our schools’ programme, the Departments of Health and Education are helping to ensure that parents have access to authentic Bug Busting information.

Need more information?

For more information about our schools programme and offers of Bug Buster Kits at wholesale prices, send three 2nd class stamps loose plus a self-addressed sticky label to:

Community Hygiene Concern
22 Darin Court
Crownhill
Milton Keynes
MK8 0AD

Or email us at bugbusters2k@yahoo.co.uk

“Our experience is that complaints about head lice – which can be the first highest category of parent complaint – are reduced to a trickle by the school’s regular participation in Bug Busting Days, especially as the school’s catchment area is highly mobile (35% annual turnover)...The programme motivates pupils to take the message home. Having 27 ‘motivators’ – the average class size – makes all the difference.”
Primary school headteacher