I'm a beauty editor and I have nits! I've never seen people step back faster than when I tell them I have headlice By Bethan King Published: 12:32 BST, 11 July 2024 | Updated: 12:34 BST, 11 July 2024 e-mail 1 View comments Spotting a WhatsApp message from my children’s school ping up on my phone, I feel a familiar panic. No, they weren’t poorly and needed picking up; instead, yet another case of nits had been reported in my son’s Year 1 class. Two days earlier, my daughter’s Year 4 class had also had a case reported.
In fact, headlice are becoming a constant in our lives. Nits have been ripping around my kids’ primary school like wildfire and hardly a week has gone by without one, or both, of their teachers sending these delightful messages. Apparently, our little pocket of South East London isn’t alone either — head lice cases are reportedly rising across the globe.
Beauty editor Bethan King, 43, was horrified to find a nit comb crawling with the creatures ‘We’re seeing an increase in headlice cases across the board. Last year was virulent, but this year is even worse,’ attests Dee Wright, founder of lice treatment specialists Hairforce (hairforceclinics.com), which has seven clinics around the country.
Sadly, our household has not escaped unscathed; so far this year, we’ve had lice several times. And yes, when I say ‘we’, I’m including myself. For while my daughter and son have both had nits three times a piece in the past year, I’ve also had i.