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Two women and a man who had been reported to the Department
to be typhus fever contacts were bathed and given precautionary
''disinfestation" treatment at the Cleansing Station.
The methods of treating verminous heads which have been
found most effective and are followed at the Cleansing Station are:
(а) Slightly infested heads.
Thorough washing in a mixture of soft soap and borax
and, while soapy, combing with a metal nit comb. When all
lice and nits have been removed, the head is re-washed and
dried. The hat and coat collar are sprayed with insecticide
and then brushed.
(b) Badly infested heads.
The hair is soaked in tar oil compound and then washed
in a mixture of soft soap and borax. It is then combed with
a metal dressing comb until it is possible to use a nit comb,
the hair being shaved from any sores. The hair is then
rewashed and dried and any sores treated. Lethane hair oil
is applied all over the scalp and the person is told to return
for further treatment in a period varying from a day to a week,
according to the condition of the scalp.
In the worst cases, where lice are embedded in the scalp,
Lethane hair oil has proved very effective in preventing the
rapid return of the condition of lousiness which would otherwise
occur.
During treatment the patient's clothing is disinfected.