A nit (egg). Those red spots are eyes. When you check for head lice, the nits look like white dandruff, but they don’t brush off easily.

by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.

It’s back-to-school time. And soon afterwards, a young child’s rite of passage—the note from the teacher stating your little darling has head lice.

I can hear the collective “but we’re not a nasty family” now. For the umpteenth time, no one—not the teacher nor the principle nor the doctor—thinks you are. It’s not a question of cleanliness.

[... continue reading]