The UK’s Head Lice Index

Andrew Lynch

During the summer of 2023, there was one creepy crawly that had everyone tossing and turning at night: bed bugs. But bed bugs aren’t the only parasitic insect which people are increasingly concerned about. 

When our experts combed through historic search volume data, they found that searches for head lice treatment have gone up 124.2% in the past two years – peaking at an all-time high in October 2023. But with head lice searches increasing by an average of 29.45% after school breaks, things could be about to get even worse this January. 

Scratching beneath the surface, our data also reveals where the UK headlice hotspots are and which cities saw the biggest spike in the return to school last September.

In time for the return to school after Christmas, our data also predicts where the next head lice outbreaks will be – will your city be one of them?

Key findings:

Head lice and schools

Head lice, or nits, are tiny parasitic insects who live on human scalps and feed on blood. The good news is that they aren’t known to spread diseases, but they are irritating and itchy to have. 

Because they spread via head-to-head contact, they are particularly common in Primary school children. People who went to school in the 1980s and 1990s may even nostalgically remember the Nit Nurse making the rounds to prevent infestations from going out of control (and you can read more about generational shifts in schooling here). 

Teaching throughout the pandemic has heightened interest in hygiene for many parents, teachers and school children – but with so much focus on infectious diseases, have head lice fallen off the radar? We put our heads together to find out.

Google searches for head lice increased 124% in two years

Searches for head lice reached an all-time high in October 2023

Since December 2021, searches for head lice and head lice treatments have jumped up by 80.8% but searches specifically for head lice treatment more than doubled (increasing by 124.2%).

And the issue is intensifying. In fact, considering all the available search volume data from 2019, a record number of searches were recorded in October 2023 – reaching 40% above the monthly norm.

There are times of the year when parents should be extra vigilant. Due to increased contact, searches for head lice increase when children return to school after the holidays. We found that searches for head lice and head lice treatments increased by around 33.65% between December to January and 25.25% between August and September. 

Leeds residents google about head lice more than anyone else

But which cities in the UK are most concerned about head lice? Head lice thrive in densely populated areas – which is why when considering even the per capita numbers, residents of large cities are most likely to be googling about these unwanted hitchhikers. 

Residents of Leeds are 129.1% more likely to be googling about head lice and head lice treatments than anyone else in the UK, closely followed by Manchester where searches are 121.4% above the average. 

Leeds, Edinburgh and Birmingham google about head lice more than anyone else

Edinburgh and Birmingham are next up, with search volumes 68.9% and 63.1% above the norm. Glasgow completes the top five with the more moderate 37.8% increase. 

Ranking

Location

Percentage difference to avg. UK monthly search volume

1

Leeds

129.12%

2

Manchester

121.36%

3

Edinburgh

69.91%

4

Birmingham

63.06%

5

Glasgow

37.76%

6

Bristol

35.49%

7

Belfast

30.82%

8

London

27.06%

9

Milton Keynes

25.37%

10

Norwich

16.87%


Where are Brits least concerned about nits? Newport, Blackpool and Nottingham are half as likely to be researching head lice or head lice treatments online than average.

Cardiff is googling about head lice 261.5% more than they were two years ago

As explored above, search volumes for head lice and head lice treatment have increased across the UK in the past two years – but there are some places where searches have soared. 

In December 2021, Cardiff had the lowest search volumes per capita for head lice and related terms in the study, but searches have since increased by a sizable 261.5%.

Blackpool saw the second largest increase since 2021, with search volumes increasing 176.2% in the past two years, with searches for the terms ‘head lice’ ‘head louse’ 'head lice on head’ and ‘head lice’ tripling. 

Completing the top five, searches in Plymouth increased by 157.6%, in London by 124.3% and Milton Keynes by 114.8%.

Ranking

Location

Percentage difference December 2021 - November 2023

1

Cardiff

261.5%

2

Blackpool

176.2%

3

Plymouth

157.6%

4

London

124.3%

5

Milton Keynes

114.8%

6

Bristol

111.6%

7

Southampton

106.7%

8

Birmingham

84.1%

9

Liverpool

81.6%

10

Manchester

68.0%


Residents of Derby, Nottingham and Newport have the least to worry about, as search volumes here have dropped off the most in the study: decreasing by 66.7%, 63.3% and 37.5% respectively.

Southend-on-Sea’s September outbreak: searches for nits increased by 157% in one month

Searches for head lice and head lice treatments always hike up when kids return to school – but which cities had the largest outbreaks in September 2023? 

According to google search volumes, Southend-on-Sea was the best place to be a nit last Autumn, with searches here increasing by 157.1%. Derby was a close second with an increase of 115.5% in searches between August and September 2023.

Ranking

Location

Percentage difference August - September 2023

1

Southend on Sea

157.1%

2

Derby

115.4%

3

Blackpool

58.1%

4

Wolverhampton

56.3%

5

Preston

47.9%

6

Reading

44.2%

7

Birmingham

35.4%

8

Coventry

32.9%

9

Sheffield

29.7%

10

Kingston upon Hull

27.5%

The cities poised to be January’s head lice hotspots

Those were the cities which saw the biggest spike in head lice concerns during the return to school in September, but whose heads could be most itchy in January?

It’s hard to predict the future, but using patterns in the data, we can make an educated guess of where the locus points for head lice outbreaks might be in the coming months. 

The first point to consider is where searches for head lice and head lice treatments have been greatest per capita in November, the most recent month pulled in the search volume data. 

These cities were: 

  1. Edinburgh

  2. Manchester

  3. Birmingham

  4. Leeds

  5. Plymouth

  6. Milton Keynes

  7. London

  8. Bristol

  9. Belfast

  10. Glasgow

This gives us an indication of where interest in head lice and head lice treatments have been greatest most recently, and so a good indication of where there have been recent outbreaks. 

Locations most likely to see a head lice outbreak in 2024

But another way to determine which locations are most at risk is to look at where searches have increased the most in the past few months. 

Comparing search volumes between September and November, searches in Plymouth (82.4%), Cardiff (56.7%) and Belfast (47.7%) have increased the most, indicating bubbling concerns primed to intensify in the return to school this January. 

Ranking

Location

Percentage difference September - November 2023

1

Plymouth

82.4%

2

Cardiff

56.7%

3

Belfast

47.7%

4

Norwich

33.9%

5

Newport

33.3%

6

Nottingham

32.0%

7

Southampton

29.2%

8

Edinburgh

23.2%

9

Blackpool

18.4%

10

Milton Keynes

17.2%

How to keep yourself safe from head lice:

If all the above has left you scratching your head, then we have some advice on how to keep you – and your loved ones – safe from nits.
We asked Kelly Court, a Nit-Nurse based in Essex, for her expert advice:

“Avoiding head-to-head contact is the best preventive measure as lice crawl from one person's hair to another's during close contact. Avoid sharing personal items like combs, brushes, hats, and even headphones. I recommend parents to keep their children’s long hair tied back and plaited for school. 
 
Weekly checks with a fine-tooth metal head lice/nit comb are advised to catch an infestation early – especially in months when children return to school after long holidays, like January and September. While they are more common among school-age children, anyone can catch lice and if lice are found, the whole family should be checked. You should advise your child’s nursery or school if lice are found so that the rest of the class can be advised to carry out checks. 
 
To treat, wet the hair and apply conditioner.  Section the hair into small sections and comb the hair with a fine-tooth head lice/nit comb. Comb from the scalp all the way down the hair. Wipe the comb on a white tissue or kitchen paper so that you can see anything that is removed.  Comb until no more lice or eggs are seen.  Repeat this every few days for two weeks. After treatment you should clean any hair brushes and hair accessories, remove any hair from them and then soak in hot water. Bedding will also need to be washed on a 60° wash and ideally dried in a tumble dryer if possible.


Unfortunately, lice are becoming much more resilient to over-the-counter treatments. That's why Nit Nurses (like me) who have been trained professionally are increasingly important. We tailor our treatments to the specific needs of the individual – for example, considering hair types and the severity of the infestation. We can also advise on preventive measures and offer ongoing support to minimise the risk of re-infestation.”

Methodology 

To choose the locations, 30 of the most populated cities in the UK were chosen using the World Population Review. We also used this source for the 2023 populations to calculate our per capita results. These cities were:

All search volume data was collected via Google’s Keyword Planner in December 2023. The regional monthly search volumes were collected for December 1, 2021 - November 30, 2023. The UK wide volumes considered data from between December 1 2019 - November 20, 2023, the furthest back the search volumes can be retrieved.

To make sure the results excluded results concerning other lice, we narrowed our search to 10 keywords. Five of these were terms for head lice, and five of these concerned head lice treatment – including searches for two of the most popular head lice treatment brands.


 

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