--- title: Selifes and Lice: Can a Picture Promote Infestation? description: Those group closeups may be fueling an uptick in lice cases among teens, say nit pickers canonical: https://time.com/4011395/selfies-causing-lice/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-26T16:05:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:57:18.601Z article:section: Health og:title: Are Selfies Causing a Surge in Lice? og:description: Those group closeups may be fueling an uptick in lice cases among teens, say nit pickers og:url: https://time.com/4011395/selfies-causing-lice/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltac0a784824738c45/698860ee3c16392c274596e0/gettyimages-544488675.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5120 og:image:height: 2880 og:image:alt: 544488675 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Are Selfies Causing a Surge in Lice? twitter:description: Those group closeups may be fueling an uptick in lice cases among teens, say nit pickers twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltac0a784824738c45/698860ee3c16392c274596e0/gettyimages-544488675.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # No, Selfies Aren't Causing a Teen Lice Epidemic > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement.  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Aug 26, 2015 4:05 PM UTC  Three teenage girls taking selfie while lying on bed in bedroom Three teenage girls taking selfie while lying on bed in bedroom Caiaimage/Tom Merton—Getty Images/Caiaimage  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Aug 26, 2015 4:05 PM UTC One thing is for certain — we’re all taking more selfies than we ever have before. And while social science experts may debate what that says about us, doctors are more concerned about something else entirely: lice. Lice, those tiny, barely visible parasites that can cling onto fur and hair, are more common in kids, who tend to have more head-to-head contact and share things like hats and helmets. But some doctors have been reporting — anecdotally — that they’re seeing more lice among teens. A few are, rather dubiously, are blaming selfies. “People are doing selfies like every day, as opposed to going to photo booths years and years ago. So you’re probably having much more contact with other people’s heads,” Dr. Sharon Rink, a Wisconsin pediatrician, [said on a local television show.](http://wbay.com/2015/08/24/are-selfies-spreading-lice/) But there is no data showing the current lice outbreak—which is in [25 states and features lice resistant to the drugs usually used to kill them](http://time.com/4000857/lice-treatment/)—is overwhelmingly affecting selfie-snapping teens, the National Pediculosis (that’s the official scientific name for a louse infestation) Association told the Huffington Post. The [Centers for Disease Control](http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/lice/head/) says six to 12 million kids, aged three to 11 years, get lice in the U.S. each year. Children, and teens, are more likely to pick up lice during close contact in cars, during sleepovers, or sharing headphones, than they are in the few seconds it takes to take a selfie, say some experts. And many of those raising the alarm have something to do with nit picking — literally. De-lousing salons have sprung up to help reluctant parents who cringe at the idea of tediously taking to the tweezers to pick out the critters, one by one. 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