The Right-to-Lice Movement
The Right-to-Lice Movement
Subject: Safe and Effective Lice Control Alternatives........
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2003
From: Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide Regulationwashingtonpost.com
The Right-to-Lice Movement
By Jennifer Huget Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, June 24, 2003; Page HE01
Seeing as how there's plenty for us parents to worry about these days, KidLife thought you might like to know about one item you can cross off your list: head lice.
Of course, head lice are creepy and disgusting. But new research argues that they won't hurt anybody -- unlike some of the treatments prescribed for getting rid of them. They aren't a badge of poor hygiene. And they aren't even all that likely to spread from person to person.
Two British researchers made their case against head-lice hysteria in the June 7 issue of the British Medical Journal (BMJ). Ian Burgess, an entomologist, and his colleague Beth Nash, editor of Best Treatments (an online health information source run by the folks who publish the BMJ), tease out the pediculosis predicament and debunk some pretty prevalent myths.
Such as: Kids get head lice from each other by sharing headbands, hats and towels.
Wrong, say Burgess and Nash: Lice are far more likely to move directly from one kid's head to another during "relatively prolonged head-to-head contact" without hopping a ride on a shared item. The authors say parents would be surprised to find how often their kids rub or butt heads with other kids during the day.
Nor do lice linger on couches, pillows or blankets, waiting to infiltrate people's scalps. Burgess says lice dry out and die fairly quickly when they're not on a scalp, so if you see lice on a blanket, they're probably already dead. Just vacuum.
Even if you see what you think are lice in your kid's hair, you should defer treatment until an expert confirms they are live lice -- not old louse-egg shells still clinging to the hair (which they can do for ages) or even unhatched louse eggs (most of which, Burgess says, never hatch). Neither of these signifies a current infestation, Burgess notes; nor do dried droplets of hair spray or pieces of dandruff, both often mistaken for lice.
Burgess says that only one in five schoolchildren who have nits -- the term used to mean louse egg but now usually refers to the hatched eggshell -- develop full-blown head-lice infestations, suggesting panic is unnecessary. Plus, he adds, only about half the kids who get sent home for lice actually have them. Burgess is among those experts -- including the American Academy of Pediatrics -- opposed to "no-nit policies" in schools; he says they serve no purpose and are humiliating for the banished.
None of this is to say that lice are much fun or that people who have them crawling around on their scalps shouldn't seek treatment. Here's a roundup of what Burgess and Nash say works -- and what doesn't:
Best Bet: Malathion (Ovide): This prescription drug has to be left on for at least eight hours, and you have to give your hair and scalp a good soaking. While it only works as well as other products, it is FDA-approved for children aged 6 and up, and lice haven't yet built up much resistance to it.
Pyrethrins (including over-the-counter Rid, a natural extract from chrysanthemum flowers): Available in shampoo and mousse form, they are left on for only 10 minutes, but they require a second application after seven to 10 days.
Lindane (Kwell) may work fast, but the FDA has recently stepped up its warnings about this highly toxic treatment, which is rarely prescribed because it's easily absorbed and stored in body fat -- including fatty areas of the brain, where it may cause neurological problems. It's not to be used on anyone weighing less than 110 pounds.
Permethrin (Nix), another OTC option, used to work well and is approved for kids aged 2 and up, but lice have built up enough resistance to it that it's not all that reliable anymore.
Less effective: Cutting hair. In fact, Nash says, cropping hair may just make it easier for lice to move to from a newly shorn host to another child's scalp.
The jury's still out on herbal treatments, which Nash says haven't been adequately tested, and on combing -- using a fine-tooth comb with conditioner or another agent to detach lice or eggs from the scalp and hair shaft. Nash says there's little evidence to support the utility of this painful, repeated approach. Burgess calls it "a form of child abuse."
Now that lice are off our list, what shall we worry about next? Let me know what's on your mind. Or your scalp.•
The columns KidLife and MidLife, devoted to healthy handling of children and adulthood, appear in alternating weeks. Send comments, suggestions and questions to kidmid@washpost.com. For U.S. Mail, see address on Page F2. No calls, please.
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
Well Mr. Helliker, I have posted a lot of free information including an alternative chapter on Lice Control and a free IPM pest control book on the web that uses safe and far more effective alternatives, the IPM manual is entitled: THE BUG STOPS HERE. You can download all of these copyrighted materials for free at: http://www.thebestcontrol.com . Salt water would work a lot safer and better and cheaper than than the article's "Best Bet" Malathion but, both options still leave you with that "form of child abuse" called the removal of the nits. Lice R Gone safely removes all of the lice and nits in about ten (10) minutes for under a buck a treatment.
Respectfully, Stephen L. Tvedten
[Editor Note: We have no idea who paid these researchers to recommend malathion for head lice. You may want to write the author and request information about her apparent recommendation of this "studies" best bet." kidmid@washpost.com]
[Point to Ponder: Has anyone ever read the label of any pesticide whether off the store shelf or applied by a pest control company to find anything that states: "Safe for use around children, pets, or pregnant women?"]
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