Sly Pupils Are Buying Head Lice To Infect Themselves And Take Time Off School

Sly schoolchildren in Bulgaria are buying head lice from infected pals so they catch the critters themselves and be forced to take three days off class, it’s claimed.

It’s reported that already-infected youngsters are selling the tiny parasites to other pupils for £3.80 a pop.

The bizarre trade is reported to have begun at a school in the village of Ravnets after children started off by infecting each other as a joke.

But when they realised that it led to three days off school, they started selling the bugs for a tidy profit.

It came to the attention of the authorities after a plague of lice infected hundreds of children in the eastern Burgas region.

Medical staff drafted in to deal with the issue discovered that the lice were returning to pupils who’d already been treated.

Health inspectors initially feared that they might be encountering a new breed of super lice capable of resisting the usual treatment to eradicate them.

But after questioning the youngsters, they were stunned to find out that they were actually infecting themselves by buying lice from other infected kids.

Health official Maria Dinkova said that the trade saw them unable to deal with all the affected children.

Nurse Plumka Kirova added: “We must have assistance from the parents because we simply cannot cope with this on our own.

"Children are coming back to school after 3 days and when I check them I again find parasites.”

(Pictures credited to CEN)