Nit-Picker Has Fun at Her Lousy Job

It's a career niche that leaves many people scratching their heads.

But for Fran Marseille, doing battle with head lice is a vocation that has proved to be as rewarding as it is unusual. And she does not mind being called a nit-picker.

"It's one of the highest compliments you could pay me," said the effervescent 43-year-old.

Although some might find lice amusing or downright gross, the woman affectionately known as the "Lice Angel" of Northridge tackles it with empathy and verve. She throws a big hug around her subjects, often before she has inspected their hair for lice and the telltale white or almond-colored eggs--the nits.

"It's sort of like all of a sudden she discovered her calling in life," said Terri Meinking, a professor of dermatology at the University of Miami who knows Marseille from the tight-knit world of lice research and education. "She's so bubbly and enthusiastic about it, which is rare, especially from her background."

As many as 12 million Americans get lice--also known as pediculus capitis--each year, generating a profusion of myths about the minute but unnerving scalp dwellers.

With lice season peaking in August and September, as the new school year starts, Marseille will be on the road for a series of appearances from Florida to Oregon to share her wisdom and debunk myths about the pesky creatures.

A Hollywood publicist for 16 years, Marseille fell into the lice profession four years ago, almost by accident. While forming her own public relations firm, Marseille took on a client who was seeking approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a nontoxic lice-killing spray.

She began promoting the product in schools and discovered the social stigmas tied to lice.

"I saw parents threaten nurses with injury or even death for saying their kids had head lice," Marseille said. "They felt they were being labeled as dirty."

People should instead treat the problem as an unpleasant but common occurrence, Marseille said. A full-grown louse is the size of a sesame seed, and a nit can be as tiny as a grain of salt.

Although many think that people who get them are poor and unclean, the opposite is often true, she said. Lice favor clean, healthy hair and scalps on which to feed and lay their eggs.

They do not jump or fly onto their subjects, but spread when people share infested objects such as helmets, barrettes, headphones or backpacks.