Hello, my name is Nidge.
And today on Imagine This... Sorry.
I just have a really itchy head.
I can't stop scratching it.
Maybe you got bit by a flea.
Maybe you got a mushy.
Maybe you have nits.
Nits?
That could be it.
But hang on.
What are nits?
They're creepy crawly.
They're itchy.
Little bugs in your head.
You mean there's someone living in my hair and I didn't even invite them over?
And I know you've been wondering about nits too.
Hello, my name is Layla.
I am six years old.
My question is, what are nits?
And why do they make you itch?
This is a real head scratcher.
But I know just who can help us find the answers.
Associate Professor Cameron Webb is a medical entomologist.
That means he studies insects that affect human health.
Let's go find him.
Hi Cameron.
Hey Nige.
What are you doing at a hair salon?
I thought for sure we'd find you in a lab or in a swamp catching bugs or something.
I'm just about to get a haircut.
Oh, maybe that's what I need.
I think I have nits.
Well, nits can be found in really short hair, really long hair, in between hair.
Hair in ponytails.
Dreadlocks.
Hairy hair.
Black hair, grey hair, rainbow hair.
So unless you want to shave all your hair off completely, a haircut won't help much anyway.
Oh.
Well, before the hairdresser comes over, can you help us with some questions?
What's a nits?
Well, I think one of the best ways to understand something is to take a close-up look at it.
You want to take a close-up look at the nits on my head?
Hmm.
But my microscope is back at the lab.
We can use our imaginations.
Everybody shrink, except for you, Nidge.
All right.
Search party on my head, starting in five.
Nidge, you can use this hairdryer as a shrinking machine.
Four.
Quick, huddle together.
Three.
It's noisy.
Two.
Oh, it's hot.
One. with a size of teeny tiny specks of sugar.
They all fit in the palm of my hand.
Your voice sounds different.
Whoa, he's a giant.
Now, Nidge, can you sprinkle us in your hair?
Be gentle.
Don't drop me.
It looks like a forest.
The hairs are like tall trees.
Ooh, it smells like soap.
Oh, thanks.
I just washed it.
Do you see any nits?
Hmm.
Let's take a look at the hair just behind the ears.
That's often where you'll find nits.
Let's go.
There's one.
Oh, where?
I see one, two, three, four, at least ten nits here.
Ten?
I don't see any bugs.
Nit is actually the word we use for the eggs.
The insects that lay them are called head lice.
I think they're round.
Yes, what we're looking at here is a cluster of eggs.
Oh no, maybe I can just shake those eggs right out of my hair.
Oops, sorry.
You won't be able to shake the knits off.
They're stuck to your hair.
Stuck?
Yep, female lice attach their eggs to the hair with strong sticky liquid.
It dries like super glue.
It's really stuck.
I can't get it off.
Yep, knits are really hard to budge.
Where?
On a strand of hair right near your earlobe.
It's cracking open.
There it is, a freshly hatched head louse.
Louse or lice?
Louse is the name for a single creature and lice is what we call a group.
Ah, that's why I've been feeling lousy.
We call the babies nymphs.
It looks like a little bug.
It has lots of legs.
Head lice are wingless insects about the size of sesame seeds.
They have little heads with two antennae, an oval shaped flat body and six legs with claws.
Claws can scratch you.
Head lice claws aren't for scratching or attacking.
They're shaped like little hooks to grip and climb into hair.
It's running along your head.
Let's follow it.
It's a bit tickly.
It's climbing up your hair.
The claws help the head lice move between human heads.
Hang on, are you saying the first blouse on my head originally came from someone else's head?
Yep, sharing's caring.
They jump.
Maybe they fly.
Nope, headlice can't fly or jump.
What?
How do you catch them then?
Is it from sharing hats or pillows or towels?
Not really.
Headlice are unique creatures because they only live on human heads, nowhere else.
Not even on other animals?
Nope.
Sometimes they fall off onto a pillow or a hat or a towel, but they only live for a few hours without being on someone's head.
Wow, so do they just crawl from head to head?
Yeah, they can even use their claws to grip onto a piece of hair and swing from head to head like Tarzan on a vine.
Everybody swing!
Tarzan!
Okay, so that means for head lice to move onto a new head, your head must have to be really close to the other person's head.
Yes, that's why kids often get head lice more than grown-ups, because they cuddle and play close together with their head, sometimes touching.
I'm trying to think of all the people I've touched heads with recently.
My sister has nits.
I've had nits.
My cousin has nits.
Grown-ups can get nits too.
Yeah, anyone with hair can get them.
Uh-oh.
Warning, everyone.
I really need to scratch my head again.
Sorry.
Oh, that feels better.
Cameron, why do head lice or nits make us so itchy?
Well, it's not the nits that make us itch.
They're just eggs.
It's something that head lice do that makes us really want to scratch.
What was that?
What was what?
It's a hungry louse.
Did you say hungry?
There he is.
Head lice like to be close to your scalp, the skin on your head, because it's warm and cosy and well.
Your scalp is where the food is.
It's going to eat me?
I think it just bites you a little bit.
It's just like a mozzie bite.
I don't see any teeth.
Maybe it's cheating.
Headlights are a bit like mozzies.
They have a mouth like a straw and they use it to suck up your blood.
Ew!
Hey, hey, that's my blood.
It's getting all fat and it's turning pink.
Yep.
They swell up and change colour as they drink.
You know what?
It doesn't hurt that much, but I do feel kind of itchy again.
Yeah, while head lice suck our blood, a bit of their spit gets mixed up under our skin, and it's the spit that makes us itchy.
Spit!
That's gross.
Cameron, should I be worried about having head lice?
Will they make me sick?
Head lice don't carry germs that make us sick and they're not dangerous.
They're just a bit of a nuisance.
Yeah, all this itching is getting annoying and it's hard not to scratch.
Now that could be a problem.
If you scratch too hard, you might break the skin and then the scratches could get sore or infected.
I'm trying not to scratch, but it feels like those lice are really partying on my head.
It's a party.
I don't mean to be a party pooper, but I think I'm ready for this party to be over.
You've been a great host, Nidge.
Power up that hairdryer again.
Nice to have fewer things in my hair.
Your face is back to normal, but i'm still so itchy.
Sounds like it's time to get the lice out.
But you said the eggs were stuck to my hair with sticky glue.
That's true, but there are still a few ways we can get rid of those uninvited guests by brushing it, by combing them out or picking them out.
I think the best way is to coat your head with a thick conditioner, just a basic one you get from the supermarket or the chemist.
Isn't conditioner just meant to make your hair smooth?
Yes, but it also stuns head lice.
Shall we put some in your hair, Nidge?
Yes, please.
Rub it on.
Ooh, that smells like green apple.
Now that your hair is coated with conditioner, the lice should be stunned.
It's time to comb them out.
Time to slip and slide, head lice.
I can see the nips in the comb.
Oh, there they are.
Now we wipe the comb on a cloth or a piece of paper And we keep combing.
Over and over and over.
And over and over and over.
All through the hair.
Until we don't see any more eggs or lice on the comb.
Wow.
This takes a while.
It does.
And we haven't reached the most important step yet.
Which is?
We have to do it all over again in seven days.
And everyone living in the same house should do it too.
That's so soon.
Why?
Because even if you're the world's best comer, you'll still usually miss a knit or two.
And attaches.
Then more knits come.
And then you'll have knits all over again.
Oh, I don't want that.
Thanks for your help denitting me, everyone.
No worries.
And Cameron, I guess I'll see you in seven days.
Not here.
You should probably stay away from the salon if you have knits.
But we can do it at home.
Oh, of course.
We'll see you at your place.
I'll bring the comb.
I'm a scientist, not a hair lice remover.
But, yeah, sure, why not?
It'll be a knit party.
Hooray!
So, Layla and Grace, knits are the eggs that come from an insect called head lice.
They only live on humans.
And all kinds of hair.
Lice move from head to head by crawling and swinging on hairs with their grippy claws.
They don't jump.
They don't fly.
The lice use their mouths that look like straws to suck our blood.
They spit.
And it's the lice spit that makes us itchy.
Itchy, itchy, itchy.
And we scratch.
Lice aren't dangerous and they don't make you sick.
But if we scratch too much, that can hurt our heads.
We have to get them out.
If you have nits, you can comb out all the insects and their eggs with a conditioner or a shampoo you get from the pharmacy or supermarket.
You have to keep doing it.
Then you have to do it again in seven days to comb out any stragglers you might have missed.
No more nits.
Well, no more until your head touches someone else with lice.
And then you start all over again.
Ah, I'm itching again already.
