Lice Expert

"It's not about head lice...it's about kids."

Deborah Z. Altschuler is president of the National Pediculosis Association and an adjunct assistant professor of Preventive Medicine with the Uniformed Services University in Bethesda. Altschuler identified pediculosis as an emerging public health problem for children and their families in 1982 and initiated the grass-roots effort that in 1983 became the National Pediculosis Association (NPA). Headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts and present on the World Wide Web at www.headlice.org, the NPA is the only non-profit health education agency dedicated to lice and scabies issues.

Pediculosis (head lice) represents one of the most common communicable childhood diseases, and whether or not we understand how this has evolved, it is important to acknowledge head lice as a problem when raising or caring for children. Too many parents innocently "treat" their children for lice without being fully aware that lice-killing products are actually pesticides and that none of them are 100 percent effective.

As part of its mission, the NPA works to standardize management procedures that promote head lice prevention, early detection and manual removal over the use of ineffective and potentially harmful pesticidal products.

One of the NPA's most important and proudest achievement, is the LiceMeister™ comb. Serving its mission to protect the kids, this precision combing device enables early detection by screening for head lice regularly just as brushing one's teeth -- and assists in the identification and removal of an infestation without panic and without chemicals.

A lecturer and guest on a wide variety of radio and television spots including CNN Medical News, National Public Radio and Good Morning America, Altschuler has used traditional communicable disease prevention concepts along with a healthy sense of humor and creativity to spearhead a worldwide effort. Altschuler has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Advances in Dermatology, Pediatric Management, and Archives of Dermatology, among others.

Under Altschuler's leadership, the NPA continues to raise the public health standard by helping parents make safer choices for their children, for themselves and for their communities.

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