Actress boards plane with head lice, triggers social media firestorm: What to know
Actress Jenny Mollen said on Instagram that she learned she had head lice while on an airplane, sparking social media users to sound off. A lice expert weighs in.
Instagram users appear to have questions and concerns after actress Jenny Mollen shared a video revealing her itchy head lice discovery while on an airplane.
Mollen, who appeared in the film "My Best Friend’s Girl" and is the wife of actor Jason Biggs, said she was mid-flight from Los Angeles to New York when she realized she had lice that was pointed out by a friend.
Her Instagram announcement, along with a follow-up post, was shared by Mollen late last month but has made recent headlines and prompted users to sound off.
"The people on that flight. Ugh… poor them," one woman wrote under Mollen's initial post.
Another user commented, "Itching…from here…."
"I hope you told the crew," said another.
Mollen, who was seen with a plastic bag on her head in the video, said she had been scratching her head for two weeks.
In a more recent video, Mollen is seen getting lice removal treatment and clearing up the controversy about flying with lice.
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"The airplane seat that’s a bummer for whoever sits there next," Mollen said on Instagram, where she tagged the New York City-based lice removal company, Licenders.
She said, "I wanted to be clear, I did not know I had lice until I was on the airplane."
One user commented, "You should be banned from flying."
"The world in its oversharing era," said another.
"Calm down, People! It’s just lice," one user commented on the video update.
Another said, "I hope you told the airline."
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Lice are parasitic insects found on people's heads and bodies and can spread by close person-to-person contact that move by crawling and cannot hop or fly, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Christine Bonanno is the owner of Fairy LiceMothers, a professional lice removal service that has been in business for more than 18 years with locations on Long Island in New York and in Austin, Texas.
Bonanno told Fox News Digital via email that the most common way to catch lice is through head-to-head contact.
"It is possible to catch lice while traveling on an airplane. You would not get it from the airplane seat itself, you would have to sit next to someone who actually has it," said Bonanno.
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Bonanno added, "the only place lice can live is on a human head… An adult bug will crawl from one head to another – you cannot catch an egg – only a bug."
She said the most effective way to treat lice is to comb out all the bugs, and it is very important to communicate with those you are around so they can be checked and treated.
"The hair acts as a bridge for lice to crawl from one head to another. So the less hair exposed the better. Hair tied back in a braid or bun helps," said Bonanno.
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Bonanno, who is a certified head lice removal clinician, said certain scents such as lavender, peppermint, coconut and tea tree oil could help repel the bugs.
Treatments at removal service companies like Fairy LiceMothers typically take between one and two hours but may take longer if it is done by someone themselves.
"We tell clients, ‘once a week take a peek,’ meaning check yourself for lice weekly, so even if you do get [lice] it will be manageable and easy to treat," Bonanno said.
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