Taking selfies with other people may increase the chance of head lice leaping from the other person's head onto yours, according to lice experts.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a selfie is "a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website."

The danger lies when selfies are taken with multiple friends, putting their heads together while facing the camera, according to Marcy McQuillan, head of two California based lice-treatment centers.

"Head lice are spread through head-to-head contact. Lice don't jump or fly, so you actually have to touch heads," McQuillan, head of Nitless Noggins, said in a press release obtained by CNET. McQuillan said she noticed a recent increase in the number of lice cases in teenagers.

"Every teen I've treated, I ask about selfies, and they admit that they are taking them every day," McQuillan said.

McQuillan told SFirst she usually treats young children for lice because they are more susceptible to it. But she is seeing more cases of lice among kids in high school and college.

"I think parents need to be aware, and teenagers need to be aware too. Selfies are fun, but the consequences are real," McQuillan told SFirst.

Vanessa Mor, a supervisor at Lice Control in Oakland, California, think's McQuillan's theory is plausible.

"That makes a lot of sense. In order to get [lice], you have to be in direct contact- sitting on the same towel, sharing headphones together, or using someone else's hair curler, sharing hats, sweaters and scarves," Mor told CNET.

But a dermatology resident at the Los Angeles + USC Medical Center says the amount of time it takes to take a selfie is not long enough to pose a danger of catching lice.

"It takes contact for an extended period of time, and 10 seconds is not what I'd consider an extended period of time," Dr. Nick Celano told CNET.

Another doctor from the Harvard School of Public Health said lice experts are just blowing smoke.

"This is a marketing ploy, pure and simple," Dr. Richard J. Pollack told NBC News, according to CNET. "Whenever these louse salons open a new branch, there always seems to be an epidemic. It's good for business."