A CONCERNED Blackpool parent is itching mad over the problem of head lice in the classroom which she says is escalating out of control.

Louise Dean, of Lindale Gardens, is sick of the sight of nits as she religiously treats her eight-year-old daughter Abbie for head lice only to find the ghastly beasts return sooner rather than later.

And she is so fed up she is thinking of pulling her daughter out of Hawes Side Primary after the summer holidays.

The mother-of-four explained: "It began about five months ago when Abbie came home from school with nits, I treated her and the entire family with a special lotion from the doctor, only to find she was reinfected two weeks later.

"Other parents I have spoken to are experiencing the same problem.

"It is a very unpleasant and distressing condition, pulling the eggs out and so on. I have tried everything the school nurse advised. I even cut her hair short in an attempt to keep the nits away, which left her heartbroken. The school don't seem to be doing anything to help."

Robert Brophy, headmaster of Hawes Side, told the Citizen: "We follow the guidelines set out by North West Lancashire Health Authority which stress it is a community problem not a school one."

Community infection control nurse Kate Brierley advised that it is a parent's responsibility to check and inform a school nurse if their child is infected.

She went on: "It is passed on person to person, not necessarily child to child. Often adults don't know they are infected as they do not itch.

"Effective contact tracing can help stop infection spreading and returning. It involves identifying anyone who has had prolonged head to head contact with the infected person within the past month."

However, Louise believes more should be done to solve the problem and is concerned at the effect it is having on her daughter, both physically and mentally.

"I am going to wait and see what happens after the holidays. If the situation is the same I may take Abbie out of the school. I believe the problem is escalating out of control.

"It is still a taboo subject and more parents need to come forward and alert others if their child has been infected."

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