Dr. Patricia Monroe, center, shares a copy of the new free Saranac Lake Voluntary Health Association infographic with Saranac Lake school nurses Mary Beth Pelletieri, left, and Kelly Wright. (Photo provided)

SARANAC LAKE — Head lice is not just something to scratch your head over. It’s a common problem in schools and doctors’ offices across the country. Understanding that one in five children will get lice, the Saranac Lake Voluntary Health Association has created an infographic outlining prevention and treatment.

The free flyer shows treatable measures to make sure families are prepared for a phone call informing them that a lice infestation has shown up around school systems, day care centers and the occasional sleepover.

According to Saranac Lake Voluntary Health Association board member and pediatrician Dr. Patricia Monroe, there is a need for a simple way to communicate information about head lice. The flyer created by the SLVHA is concise, to the point and easily accessible.

“Getting head lice happens especially with young children. They are more apt to share hats and have their heads close together,” Monroe said in a press release. “We want to make sure that people are getting correct information. Currently there isn’t any lice outbreak, but we want to be preemptive.”

The infographic is already available on the Saranac Lake Voluntary Health Association website as a free download and will be distributed throughout the Saranac Lake Central School District and area doctors’ offices.

One goal of SLVHA is to help people realize that everyone can get lice. Information for simple preventative measures can help take the fear and embarrassment out of getting lice. As the flyer outlines, lice do not jump or fly, but have to crawl to their next host. Seeing an infographic at home or school may help to remind children not to share hats or touch heads when they become aware of an outbreak of lice.

Nurses in the Saranac Lake school system will receive copies of the flyer to send home to children or have available in their offices. There will also be posters in each nurse’s office. Other school systems are encouraged to print copies or to share the downloaded free infographic with their student body and communities.

“We want people to have as much information as possible,” Monroe said. “We hope that people will find the information helpful and easy to access.”

The Saranac Lake Voluntary Health Association Inc. is a nonprofit organization established in 1897, dedicated to improving the health of the people within the Saranac Lake Central School District through funding health care initiatives and scholarships for students in the medical, nursing, rehabilitative and allied fields of study. For more information about services and how to obtain them, call 518-891-0919 or visit saranaclakevha.org.