There’s been a long-time myth that Black people cannot get lice. Well, that’s not entirely true. Although the numbers are low, Black people can get infested.
A study, shows that about 10 percent of White children got lice compared to 0.3 percent of Black children.
Why is it so rare?
There are several reasons that getting lice is rare for Black people. For starters, Europeans are the ancestors of lice. They brought it into America in the 19th century.
Second, the shape of African American hair plays a major part in lice being rare.
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White people tend to have a round-cross shape while Black people tend to have more of an oval shape.
Since lice crawl along a hair shaft and glue their eggs, this typically prevents Black people from developing lice because the lice have a hard time grasping their hooks onto the shaft.
However, there are lice in Africa that have adapted to the oval shape.
One myth is that cultural oils also play a role in Black people rarely developing lice. While they can serve as a deterrent, many patients who used particular styling products still developed lice.
