Most likely if you have head lice, it was transmitted from "head to head" contact. This is the most common way that head lice is transmitted.
Only 5 percent of lice are transmitted through the environment. The reason is that lice are parasitic, and need blood to survive. Once off the head, they don't survive more that 24-48 hrs. They dehydrate quickly and die.
Lice crawl quickly,they don't jump or fly because they have no hind legs or wings. An adult louse can crawl as fast as nine inches per minute. The adult louse can detect odor from an antenna located in the front of the eyes. It's believed that they can even detect blood type. When head lice find a desirable environment, they literally run to the new host or head. They may run quickly to a favorable environment. They also move very quickly to an unfavorable one.
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Due to the fact that head lice depend on blood for survival, we now know that the environment doesn't play as big of an issue as once thought. It is important to explain to our children the importance of not sharing hats, hoodies, brushes or combs. Keep hair back in pony tails or braids as not to allow a "bridge" for the lice to cross over from one head to the next.
