Augusta focus. ([Augusta, Ga.) 198?-current, January 18, 1996, Image 10

Augusta focus., January 18, 1996, Page 10, Image 10

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Newspaper Page Text10 January 18, 1996 lousy story Even with cleaner living conditions, the head louse leaves people from all walks of life scratching their heads with disbelief. And scratching. And scratching. By Rhonda Jones AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer Head lice. It’s a topic that people just do not want to talk about, one that elicits nervous giggles, buck passing, and dead silences on the other end of the phone. School offi cials and health professionals alike are quick to pooh-pooh the very ex istence of the little buggers. Like Lucy Armstrong who, in her seven years of school nursing, has never encountered a case. But Richmond County School Board trustee Jeff Annis — who is president of Advanced Services for Pest Control, Inc. — is worried that the area’s policy in regards to send ing children home from school isn’t good enough. He says Richmond Countyneedsa“no-nit”policy, which would mean sending home children who have nits, or lice eggs, in their hair. Asit stands, he said, “we’ve got the ‘vou've-got-to-have-them-walk ing-around-on-you’ policy.” He worries about kids with nits being cleared for school attendance and hatching out more live lice. He said that any nit could become a live louse at any time. But this won't happen says Carol Roundtree, director of guidance and testing for Richmond County, if the nitshavebeentreated, and are“wait ing to die.” Ms. Roundtree is not worried about the possibility of an outbreak, because the pediculicides (“pediculosis”is the condition ofhav ing lice) on the market are quite eye Q Eye Care Questions and Answers with Dr. Thomas Casella, Optometrist School trouble: Learning disability or vision problem? Is your child struggling in school because of learning disability or is it a vision problem? The school year is in full swing but is your child learning as he or she should this school year? Often times, students are misdiagnosed with a learning disability when actually they have a vision problem. Vision problems can affect your child’s ability to learn since 80 percent of what a child learns comes through vision. A child’s vision may experience frequent changes and they may not realize a problem exists. Problems may range from seeing a blurred chalkboard to reading difficulties and poor concentration stemming from poor eye movement, focusing and coordination. To give your child adequate vision for learn ing, have his or her eyes examined annually. The most rapid period of changes in the vision occurs during a child’s growth years. The Georgia Optometric Association offers these signs and symptoms that may assistin the early detection of eye and vision difficul ties: FOCUS your club luncheons or dinners in a fine restaurant. Visit BL's Restaurant at 1117 Laney-Walker Blvd. or call 828-7799 to make arrangements. AUGUSTA FOCUS a 8 LR TR & RE GaRE . R SRE— ‘ LS e e T TR AT R AR e S 8 S Ea TRSW b S i ,d"§\~\ _"*.- D R 3 AR T SR T e PR RAT SRR o - SR o SR G gt § > & B o o ¥ RL R SR T el S & & S e B R w R L«\ “\w{ \‘§§x§ P e e R W g Ryße R O e L SR . O 4 ST el TR D T 3 R A B S T B e taEEe o BERG RE e i 3 : e ® GRS N B f e G b ;o PRI b ¢ b ; e . TSR Sl W PR Y TR SRR T TETTEIR Re R o R e G S TR, foompa i ,w ? i@ illustration by derick wells effective. That, coupled withthestig ma of having lice, she said, causes people to take care of the problem right away. And that, she agreed, is why there hasn’t been a recent out break: when parents find out about a louse problem in the family, “they rushrightoutandtakecareofthem.” Aside from that, she said, lice are very “annoying,” as they crawl through thehairandbitethescalp of the infested person. “There’s a lot of education out there,” she said. “It’s not going to get out of hand.” Yet, at the beginning of the school year, she contacted the Richmond County Department of Health re garding “several chronic cases of head lice and a reexamination of existing policy.” A memo to area schools in November stated that “the protocol appeared not to reme dy these situations.” According to an October 1995 memo to Ms. Roundtree, Jane Oglesby, coordinator for nursing services of the health department, had spoken with Dr. Sheri Wain wrightofthe Epidemiology and Pre vention Branch of the Division of Public Health in Georgia about the no-nit policy. According totheletter, Dr. Wainwright “did notrecommend this policy, mainly because nits are very difficult to remove from the hair shaft and many children would miss many school hours needless Member, Georgia Optometrist Association Livingßetter ly.” The letter went on to say that the problem with the chronic infesta tions might be because the families weren't treating them properly. But, outbreaks aside, lice have been living on humans for a very long time and, like other pests, are difficult, if not impossible, to elimi nate. “That’s right,” Ms. Roundtree replied to the suggestion that there is always someone in the school system who has head lice. “I mean almostalways,”shesaid. Shedoesn’t know of “a single year” that has passed without incident. She also said she was told that, lastsummer, the Richmond County Board of Health had been “very busy” with a bigger-than-usual caseload of lice infestations. Accordingtoinformation fromthe National Pediculosis Association, though many people associate lice with filth, head lice are a different story. “Frequent bathing or sham pooing will not prevent lice nor elim inate them once they are estab lished.” They cannot jump or fly, and are passed by contact with infested per sons, by wearinginfested clothingor using an infested comb or brush.. The pamphlet warns against shar ing hats, clothes and grooming aids. Itching is the main symptom of infestation although, the pamphlet B Blurring of vision at any time. B A short attention span or frequent day dreaming. M A dislike or an avoidance of close work. B Difficulty remembering what is read. @ Frequent loss of place while reading. B Poor eye-hand coordination when copying, throwing, catching, buttoning clothing or ty ing shoes. B A drop in scholastic or sports performance. B Frequent eye rubbing, blinking, squinting, headaches, itching, nausea and dizziness. M Tilting or turning of head to use one eye. B Poor reading ability. “There is no reason that a child should strug gle in school when an eye exam might diagnose the learning problem,” said Dr. Jim McQuaig, President, Georgia Optometric Association. “Through early diagnosis and proper treat ment, a child can look forward to a successful academic year.” Courtesy of Dr. Thomas Casella, 767 Broad Street (Next to the Lamar Bldg.) ® (706) 722- 0817. says, not everyone will experience theitching. “Often red bite marks or scratch marks can be seen on the scalp and neck. In severe infesta tions, a child may develop swollen glands in the neck or under the arms.” Treatmentisatwo-step processin which the child’s hair is washed — with the child bent over the sink to confine the insects to the head and neck — and combed with a fine toothed nit comb. The treatment should be repeated after seven days. The pamphletadvisesthatallnits should be removed by combing or picking them out with fingernails. “Louse products do not kill all the nits,” it says, “and survivors will hatch into crawling lice within sev en to 10 days, generating a cycle of reinfestation.” One interesting fact about head lice is that, if your child is black, he or she is not as likely to get them as are children of other races, because the hair shafts of black children are too narrow for the insects’ claws to grasp properly, and they slide right off. In a study of elementary school children before 1977, 0.3 percent of black children had lice. Eleven per cent of the children of other.races were infested. Up so five percent or more girls are infested than boys, probably due to the sharing of cloth ing and combs. ! . 9 . } 1 ar 7' - # i 8 v i . ; b g S B Ga i R : i Gaa r % o i . EL[™: L £ = & s E : 8 S y o 4 i b 5 4:.:15., T 4 F A:' i P A L A i . o i b i - : - o :,ﬂ o B E G 5 3 . e s & dnig . b P o i SR 4 e ; ; L . . E . :,( f;:“‘) i s o b o L coamaiin i - - 4 o i Loamee e > e > : so A i b T = o T ; L Y i HAT YOU DON'T KNOW. SR AR 4 T 4 N&BN TER O\X b AN N ZEGEN LLN ; T ”ce; ¥ . SR ee S s e A ¢ S 4 % N N e . P’» B N 2 AT B e - T. 1% 11y YV Nty . .ttt ) P4lt 1€ 1 Y s 4 « #ae ’;&Q‘g \?{‘v“é‘v{‘ o Lo "W’%.hs"e.é@’? SR e e o 4 G : . : S{ o f Whether it’s from headache, injury, or disability, Walton R ehabilitation Hospitals Center for Injury Recovery and Pain Management specializes in helping people cope with pain. That doesn’t mean just handing out medication to mask the pain. We concentrate on helping you learn new habits and adapt to new lifestyles. We take every aspect of your life into consideration— HEALTH PERSPECTIVES S A ‘ By Emily Jo Young, RN. Special to AUGUSTA FOCUS High levels of arsenic, chromi um and lead have at various times been discovered in tests at several Augusta schools and com munities. Lead poisoning is a disease caused by swallowing or inhal inglead. This poisoningin child hood is a chronic disease when caused by long-term, heavy ex posure. Lead is poisonous in all of its forms. (Its original form is a soft, bluish-white, dense me tallic element, but it can be liqui dated for commercial use.) It is one of the most dangerous toxic metals because its effects are cumulative and severe. Although the body excretes a portion of the lead ingested, lead accumulates in tissues and bones. Poor youngsters living in older urban housing are most vulner able to high blood lead levels. Young children face great risks because: 1) their bodies absorb lead more easily than adult bod ies, 2) they tend to put every thing in their mouths and are not prone to frequent handwashing, and 3) there are usually no early symptoms of lead poisoning. Leadisfound in paint pigments and chips (particularly from old, substandard housing) lead toys, storage batteries, certain types of cookware, radiation shielding and leaded dust. The soil and air can be contam inated by industrial pollution and automobile exhaustion. The soil can alsobe contaminated by lead Annual Health Fair Jan. 27 Tabernacle Baptist Church, 1223 Laney-Walker Blvd. will be the site of the Annual Health Fair sponsored by the Deaconess Board and jithe Medical -Team of the C.hwgh. ..The health fair will be held‘Saturday, January 27, from lO:OQ a.m. until 2:00 p.m. Augus ta Regional Hospital and Colum WALTON ' REHABILITATION - HOSPITAL Sponsored by St. Joseph Center for Life Inc. & University Health Services Inc. 1355 Independence Drive, Augusta, GA 30901-1037 « 706-724-7746 * 800-332-4544 based insecticides. Dust in the air, especially from the renova tion of old houses, is another source of contamination. Old water pipes may be made of lead, which can infiltrate drinking water. An individual who has been in a lead-contaminated en vironment may take lead home on their clothing, shoes and hands. Excess lead impairs a child’s cognitive development. Any thing over 10 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood is unsafe as stated by guidelines of the Cen ter for Disease Control and Pre vention. At high levels, damage may occur to the nervous sys tem, kidneys and reproductive organs. Proper mental develop ment may be affected. Signs for lead poisoning may be mistaken for symptoms of flu or other illnesses. Other signs that may be associated with lead poisoning are stomachaches and cramps, fatigue, headaches, fre quent vomiting, constipation, poor appetite and sleep disor ders. As more lead accumulates, clumsiness, weakness and loss of recently acquired skills can occur. These symptoms may also indicate other health conditions, but consult your physician if you suspect possible lead poisoning. High-risk children pastthe age ofthree years should be screened at least twice yearly, and those under three years more often. Treatment may be necessary in some cases of lead poisoning; hospitalization may be required. The best treatment, however, is to stop the exposure to lead. bia County School System nurses will be conducting screening for the following: cholesterol, blood sugar/diabetes, prostate cancer, blood pressure, and vision and hearing. On-site medical staff, cardiologist and a cancer special istwillalsobe present. The speak er will be Dr. Roosevelt Stallings. from employment to fun and recreation. We do this with a team that includes board certified medical specialists, licensed therapists, clinical psychologists, and registered nurses certified in rehabilitation. Their common goal is to help you control your pain, instead of your pain controlling you. For more information, call us at 800-332-4544. The more you know, the better you'll feel.