It’s important to know the signs and symptoms of head lice so we can detect, manage, and treat it to reduce transmission. Itchiness is one obvious sign and is typically noticed when a child can’t stop scratching their head. But dandruff can also cause itchiness. And, to complicate things, only half of head lice cases get irritated itchiness, some kids don’t feel an itch at all. This is because only 50% of head lice infestations cause a minor allergic reaction associated with the louse’s saliva when it pierces and feeds on the scalp. If a child scratches with their nails, and ruptures the skin further, pain, bleeding or sores are possible. If these sores go unnoticed they may become infected due to the bacteria typically present in fingernails. Lice love the darkness so they crawl around more at night. Generally speaking, a case of head lice is not a medical emergency, but the crawling and itchiness can cause sleeplessness, and that causes suboptimal performance at school during the day. So if there is a spike in head lice cases in a classroom this may warrant a school-wide head check by the school nurse or a lice technician. Again, a spike in cases is not a medical emergency, but sometimes talk and identification of head lice cases are accompanied by stigma which brings embarrassment. What is stigma, and what are the potential damages brought by stigma, we cover that in the next digital short, in the meantime, test your knowledge on head lice symptoms here.