About National Bug Busting Day

DESCRIPTION:

National Bug Busting Day occurs three times per year in the United Kingdom: January, June, and October. It is a concentrated effort to stem the tide of lice infections within schools and the general population. Through the registered charity Community Hygiene Concern, the government teaches parents, educators, and pharmacists how to detect and stop the spread of head lice and provides affordable Bug Busting kits.

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

Lice are a big problem in schools. Once they infect an individual, these parasites can be very difficult to exterminate. The following are some facts:

The eggs of head lice usually take seven to ten days to hatch.

Combing dry or damp hair with a fine-tooth comb is not a reliable way to detect lice.

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.

No studies prove that wet head lice grasp hairs more tightly, thus hampering their removal with a fine-tooth comb.

You do not need head-to-head contact to catch lice; proximity will do it.

Head lice are a community problem. Approximately 20% of head lice cases occur in people over 16 or under four years old.