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Article: Having a Lousy Time at School;Parasitic Head Lice Are More a Nuisance Than a Threat to Health
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- April 4, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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When students at Spring Hill Elementary School in McLean turned
their microscopes last week on a few insects, the children got to see
firsthand what had been bugging other kids at the school.
Under the lenses were head lice and their eggs, including a newly
hatched louse struggling for life.
"Oh, look, it's so cute," said one fifth-grade student. "Can't we
keep it?"
"Sorry, but I don't think your mother would approve," advised Anne
Labbe, the school's health clinic room aide, who recounted the story
later.
Wise woman. Parents abhor head lice, those annoying pests that are
endemic in school-age children.
Head lice are blood-sucking parasites, known by entomologists as
Pediculus humanus ...