HEAD LICE: Can it live in and/or spread via indoor swimming pool?

My 6-year-old daughter swims three nights a week at local indoor high school swimming pool. She was found to have a head lice infestation recently, which we've since treated. I've racked my brain trying to figure out where she got it, but really don't know. Meanwhile I'm thinking about the harsh chemicals in that pool that just fry her hair; then that made me think about how in the world could these lice live on her hair while swimming. So, has anyone heard of lice being spread in a pool??

I really have no idea if they can live in or be spread in a pool. BUT if your daughter is in school, that is most likely where they came from. I know little girls like to put their heads together to whisper, hug, etc. Also with winter weather, some girls will change hats and stuff playing around... You should talk to your little girl about the ways lice are spread and how to avoid it in the future. Good luck! I know how horrible it is to comb and comb and comb.

No, I don't think headlice can swim, or survive in the swimming pool. They are very easily caught through ordinary day to day contact between children in school, whenever they put their heads close together, (reading from the same book, hugging, playing games etc). The lice walk from one head to the next, where they lay their eggs (nits) which are glued to the hair. Then in a few days the nits hatch and you have a whole new crop of headlice.
People used to think that only dirty children get headlice; this is just not true. Anyone can get them, and they actually prefer clean hair.
You need to check the rest of the family as well, because they can spread just as easily at home as they do at school.
Hard luck - checking and combing everyone's hair is a real chore - but don't let it spoil your Christmas; have a good one!