Discreet Lice Removal, Ltd. We take the burden off your shoulders
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House De-Bugging
Common Questions Regarding Our Services
Do we offer house de-bugging or spraying?
House de-bugging (organic or chemical) is completely unnecessary and potentially hazardous to your family, or your pet’s health. We follow the strict guidelines set forth by three of the most respected and most prestigious institutions in the United States. See what Harvard Schoolof Public Health, National Institutes of Health (NIH), and The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention say about house de-bugging.
Harvard School of Public Health "Should I use insecticides in the house to rid it of lice? "
Insecticidal treatments targeted at lice within the school, home, vehicles, or carpets/furniture are generally unwarranted. This practice can unnecessarily expose occupants to insecticidal residues.
Be careful with products that claim to be "natural" yet kill lice on
contact. If a product is capable of killing an insect on contact, it is a
pesticide and should be used with extreme caution. Likewise, if a
product is truly "natural", and derived from living matter, then it
WILL NOT kill a parasite on contact. Products and services like these will only give you a false sense of security. They will do nothing to solve your lice problem. It is a proven fact that lice cannot survive off the human head for more that 48 hours. If separated from the
head (their food source) they soon starve to death.
Harvard School of Public Health "Should I clean my house or car? "
"The chances of a live head louse or egg becoming reunited with a person would seem exceptionally remote. Accordingly, Herculean steps to clean lice from the house or car by intensive washing or vacuuming will result in a cleaner space, but are unlikely to significantly facilitate the goal of eliminating the lice from those residing in the home. A child’s car seat cover may benefit from vacuuming, as a few errant lice or eggs may temporarily lodge there and survive for a day or so."
Richard Pollack, PhD, Harvard University
CDC - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Supplemental Measures - Vacuum the floor and furniture, particularly where the infested person sat or lay. However, the risk of getting infested by a louse that has fallen onto a rug or carpet or furniture is very small. Spending much time and money on housecleaning activities is not necessary to avoid re-infestation by lice or nits that may have fallen off the head or crawled onto furniture or clothing.
Do not use fumigant sprays; they can be toxic if inhaled or absorbed through the skin.
BACKGROUND: The control of head lice is frequently based on perceptions rather than evidence, as illustrated by the belief that vacuuming carpets is an essential component of treating head lice, and the less common practice of application of insecticides to floors as an adjunct to head lice treatment.
OBJECTIVE: To 1) evaluate the importance of floors as a source of infection for head lice in primary schools to provide evidence on which to base decisions about the need to treat floors; 2) determine the prevalence of active pediculosis and average intensity of infection in primary school children in Townsville, north Queensland.
METHODS: In Townsville, north Queensland, we examined preschool and primary classroom floors for lice by using a filter on a vacuum cleaner when the children were absent from the rooms. Active pediculosis was treated, head lice were collected and counted.
RESULTS: Of the 2,230 children examined from 118 classrooms, 466 had head lice, a prevalence of 20.9%. A total of 14,033 lice were collected from these children to give an average intensity of infection of 30.1 (95% CI 21.9-38.3) lice per infected child and 129.9 (95% CI 90.7-169.2) lice per infected class. Of the 118 classrooms, 108 (91.5%) had at least one child with active pediculosis. No lice were recovered from the classroom floors.
CONCLUSION: Classroom floors are not a risk in the transmission of head lice and no special anti-louse measures are required.
