Local lice removal companies reporting boom in business
Posted March 3, 2016 9:00 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Dealing with lice can be irritating not only for kids, but also parents. And it seems the pesky critters may be a growing problem in Metro Vancouver.
Shortreed Elementary in Aldergrove has been dealing with an infestation for months, which one parent claims has made it to almost every classroom.
Dawn Mucci with removal business Lice Squad says typically this is a slow time, but that hasn’t been the case, adding her staff can’t keep up with demand.
She blames lice being resistant to drug store products.
“There’s a lot of controversy right now because a lot of school boards are not doing the no-nit policies anymore, so they’re allowing kids to come to school with active lice.”
Mucci says business has been going up steadily for about the last five years.
Meanwhile, Darlene Miller with the Greater Vancouver Lice Clinic says there’s been an increase in appointments over the last year or year and a half, to the point where she’s had to bring on two more technicians.
“But of course, things get a little bit busier at clinics as more people realize that there is extra help out there as well,” says Miller. “And the longer the clinics are around, the more people are talking. So, we definitely see an increase in business because of that reason, too. Not necessarily that there’s any huge outbreaks going on right now.”
“Head lice isn’t seasonal. It’s more the way communities move our children around and operate. During major holidays is when we see a lot of transmission — there’s a lot of close-contact families, cousins sharing beds, people on the airlines, children going to camps. A lot of transmission happens at that time and then come the beginning of the school year — September, January, March, April… depending on spring break — we bring all of our children back into close head-to-head contact. So, at the beginning of these months, there’s quite a lot of spread that goes on. And then by the end of September, end of January, beginning of February, then a lot of families are starting to see the signs and effects of an infestation.
When you’re first touched by it, there’s not a lot of symptoms. It’s usually about two or three weeks in before people realize that they actually have head lice,” she says.
Miller has been noticing more business from the Aldergrove and Langley areas.
“You know, every district sort of goes in waves. They almost have their turn. I know in the last six to eight months, we’ve definitely worked with a few more families in the Aldergrove/Langley area.”
Mucci says recently, business has been going up about 25 per cent each year.
Barbara Pattision with Lice 911 tells us her business is also busier now than ever.
“I think it stems from people just being in a high-risk situation all the time. A lot of families struggle with completely eliminating it, so there’s just a lot of lice everywhere they go and they catch it and then they’re not sure what to do with it. Then before they figure that out, then it can spread to other family members and other people in schools and stuff. Aldergrove definitely has been a hot spot in the past. But it’s really BC-wide; you can’t even pin-point it to a certain city anymore. It’s just everywhere,” notes Pattison.
Pattison attributes part of the increase in business she’s seen to the “selfie effect” — where two peoples’ heads touch as they’re snapping a picture.
