Does Your State Have Super-Lice?
Most states in the U.S. are dealing with a major outbreak of “super lice,” according to a new study in the Journal of Medical Entomology. The thought alone is enough to make your skin crawl, but it’s especially troubling because the news comes at a time when children are starting to head back to school. [1]
Just How Bad Is It?
Well, it’s pretty bad.
Scientists tested lice in 48 states and found that a shocking 42 of them are overrun with the mutant bugs. In these states, 100% of the lice tested were resistant to over-the-counter (OTC) treatments:
- WashingtonSome, but not all, of the lice tested in 6 other states – New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Oregon, New Mexico, and North Dakota – were found to be resistant to OTC treatments.
Alaska and West Virginia were not part of the study. [2]
OTC Lice Treatment
Traditionally, lice have been treated using insecticides called pyrethroids and pyrethrins.
To give you an idea of how overused pyrethroids have become, a 2014 study by the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), showed that of the urinary samples taken from adults and children in 90 California families, 2/3 had breakdown products of pyrethroids.
As of 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had found pyrethroids in more than 3,500 registered commercial products. [3]
I reported in April that pyrethroids used to be 100% effective against lice, but now they only work 25% of the time.
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