Paper
Wet combing versus traditional scalp inspection to detect head lice in schoolchildren: observational study
Cite this as:
BMJ
2000;321:1187
- Jan De Maeseneer, professor (jan.demaeseneer@rug.ac.be)a,
- Ineke Blokland, general practitionerb,
- Sara Willems, researchera,
- Robert Vander Stichele, general practitionerc,
- Filip Meersschaut, nurseb
- a Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, Ghent University, 1K3 UZ, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
- b Community Health Centre ‘Ledeberg’, B-9050 Ledeberg, Belgium
- c Heymans Institute of Pharmacology, University Hospital Ghent, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
- Correspondence to: J De Maeseneer
- Accepted 30 August 2000
Lice infestation is a problem in local communities, probably because reservoirs remain undetected. Wet combing (combing systematically through wet, well conditioned hair with a fine toothed comb) has been presented as a cheap, ecological, self sufficient, and feasible technique for diagnosis and treatment of head lice.1-3 Compared with traditional scalp inspection it uses five elements to make living lice more visible, to better distinguish them from dandruff, and to assess the maturity of the infestation: water, conditioner, a fine toothed comb, a systematic sweep of the scalp, and a magnifying glass (10×). However, its efficacy as a diagnostic tool and as a therapeutic intervention has not been proved; hence it is not evidence based.
Subjects, methods, and results
We did an observational study comparing detection of head lice using traditional scalp inspection and wet combing. After ethical approval had been obtained, all 260 pupils, aged 2-12 years, of a primary school in a socially deprived urban area …
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