By: Lisa Jenkins
Updated: Oct. 23, 2023
Originally Published: Oct. 21, 2023
When I stumbled upon the online chatter about kids potentially picking up lice from their Halloween costumes, I felt a wave of panic wash over me. The idea is that lice outbreaks may surge around Halloween because kiddos are trying on costumes one after another, and there’s also the whole hand-me-down costume situation.
As soon as I heard this, I felt a compulsive need to scratch every inch of my body while shuddering at the thought of those pesky little creatures sneaking into my home. Sure, lice are relatively harmless, but they are a true nuisance to eliminate and downright creepy! I have vivid memories of the one time I got lice as a kid — the crawling sensation on my scalp and my mom dragging my sisters and me to the laundromat for a weekend of de-licing.
So, I thought, “No way!” I would rather attempt to craft my kids’ Halloween costumes (even though I can’t sew to save my life and have zero time for that). But then I wondered, could it really be that serious? Why hadn’t I heard of this lice horror story in my 39 years on this planet?
To ease my mind, I reached out to Jake Thompson, the COO of Lice Clinics of America, which claims to be the largest network of head lice treatment clinics in the U.S. They’ve treated over 350,000 cases — so they should know a thing or two!
Good News for Worried Parents
Here’s the good news for all you worried parents: There’s likely no need to fret about lice lurking in your kids’ Halloween costumes. “Head lice don’t live on wigs, masks, costumes, or clothing,” Thompson explained. “They only thrive on human heads with hair. While it’s possible for lice to get knocked off a head and onto a costume, the main way kids get infested is through direct head-to-head contact.”
What a relief! Halloween is chaotic enough without the added stress of lice. According to Thompson, the primary route of transmission is indeed head-to-head contact, not through wearing a costume. That means your child is more likely to catch lice while jostling for candy with other trick-or-treaters than from donning a used pirate hat.
Of course, while the risk from costumes is minimal, it’s not completely zero. If a louse did happen to end up in a costume, it wouldn’t survive long without a human host — about 15 hours max. “If a louse were to get knocked off an infested head and onto a costume, it would likely be dead within 15 hours since they need to feed on human blood every few hours,” Thompson noted.
For store-bought costumes in their packaging, no worries at all! If a costume has been hanging on the rack and you’re concerned, Thompson reassured me that the chances are incredibly low. And for those hand-me-downs that we parents rely on (because not every family can splurge on new gear every year), if you know it hasn’t been worn recently, you have nothing to fear. If you’re unsure, toss it in the dryer on high heat for 30 minutes — that’ll do the trick.
Thompson even said we can check for lice ourselves. “Lice are about the size of a sesame seed,” he said. A quick visual inspection can help determine if any lice are present. Great, just what I wanted to hear — more things to obsess over!
And for those still skeptical, Thompson referred to a 2000 study published in the International Journal of Dermatology. Researchers examined hats and heads of students across four Australian schools. They found over 5,500 lice on the students’ heads but none on the more than 1,000 hats!
Conclusion
So, to sum it all up: “Don’t stress about lice this Halloween,” says Thompson. If your kids do get lice, it’ll most likely happen the same way it does any other time of year — through head-to-head contact.
I’m feeling a bit more at ease about this Halloween. However, I’ll probably be cringing a little more as I watch my boys tumble around on the playground, bumping heads together. Just the thought of those sesame-seed-sized lice makes me itch. Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.
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Summary
This article reassures parents that the likelihood of children contracting lice from Halloween costumes is very low. Lice primarily thrive on human heads and do not live long without a host. Parents can rest easy knowing that head-to-head contact is the main way children get lice, not through costumes, wigs, or masks. A few simple precautions can help ease any lingering concerns about lice during Halloween festivities.