Many of the pediculicides in the market are either not fully effective or are ineffective when they are used according to the instructions. Pediculicides may rapidly lose their efficacy because of the development of resistance. Resistance of head lice to insecticides such as lindane, malathion, phenothrin and permethrin has been reported.
A 2021 systematic review and meta-analysis found that the mean frequency of pyrethroid resistance of lice was 77% globally, and even 100% in several countries (Australia, England, Israel, and Turkey). It concluded that treatment with current insecticides may not be effective and is likely the cause of increased levels of infestations.
A number of commercial head lice treatment companies across the country offer a heated air treatment.
A special fine-toothed comb that can pick out lice is used. For a treatment with louse comb alone, it is recommended to comb the hair for an hour to an hour and a half (depending the length and type of the hair) daily or every second day for 14 days. Wetting the hair especially with water and shampoo or conditioner will facilitate the combing and the removal of lice, eggs and nits.
Electronic louse combs use a small electrical charge to kill lice. The metal teeth of the comb have alternating positively and negatively charged tines, which are powered by a small battery. When the comb is used on dry hair, lice make contact with multiple tines of the fine-toothed comb, thereby closing the circuit and receiving an electrical charge. A non-peer-reviewed letter has been published in a dermatology journal claiming effectiveness based on personal experience (total of 6 uses).
Shaving the head or cutting the hair extremely short can be used to control lice infestation. Short hair, baldness, or a shaven scalp are generally seen as a preventive measure against louse infestation. This will also eliminate – particularly if maintained for the length of the parasites' reproductive cycle – louse infestation.
Infestation with lice is not a serious disease and the medical symptoms are normally minimal. In any case, health providers and parents should try not to create emotional problems for children during examination and treatment.
Shaving of the area above and behind the ears and the upper part of the neck while leaving the crown of the head with hair is commonly used to prevent lice among tribes in Africa, Asia, and America (in America – Mohawk style).
A number of health researchers and organizations object to the no-nit policy. Opponents to the no-nit policy mention that visible nits may only be empty egg casings which pose no concern as transmission can only occur via live lice or eggs. This has led to the perception that the no-nit policy serves only to ease the workload of school nurses and punish the parents of infested children.
Proponents of the no-nit policy counter that only a consistently nit-free child can be reliably shown to be infestation-free. That is, the presence of nits serves as an indirect proxy for infestation status. Proponents argue that such a proxy is necessary because lice screening is prone to false negative conclusions (i.e., failure to find lice present on actively infested children). For example, a 1998 Israeli study found that 76% of live lice infestations were missed by visual inspection (as verified by subsequent combing methods). Although lice cannot fly or jump, they are fast and agile in their native environment (i.e., clinging to hairs near the warmth of the scalp), and will try to avoid the light used during inspection. Louse colonies are also sparse (often fewer than 10 lice), which can contribute to difficulty in finding live specimens. Further, lice populations consist predominantly of immature nymphs, which are even smaller and harder to detect than adult lice.
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Marriott, John F (2010). Pharmaceutical Compounding and Dispensing (2nd ed.). Pharmaceutical Press. p. 77. ISBN 9780853699125. OCLC 640077286. ALCOHOL. After water, this is probably the next most important solvent used pharmaceutically. Although ethanol (ethyl alcohol) is rarely used as a lone solvent for preparations for internal use, it is used in the manufacture of some of the galenicals used in pharmacy (e.g. tinctures, see Chapter 2). In extemporaneous dispensing it is normally used for the production of lotions for external application to unbroken skin. It is particularly useful if rapid evaporation is required (e.g. for insecticidal lotions applied to hair for the treatment of lice)... 9780853699125
Szinwelski, N; Fialho, V. S.; Yotoko, K. S. C.; L. R., Seleme; C. F., Sperber (2012). "Ethanol fuel improves arthropod capture in pitfall traps and preserves DNA". ZooKeys (196): 11–22. Bibcode:2012ZooK..196...11S. doi:10.3897/zookeys.196.3130. PMC 3361084. PMID 22679388. ...It has been shown that at concentrations higher than 95%, commercial alcohol preserves DNA (Nagy 2010), but the use of highly concentrated commercial alcohol as a killing solution may be prohibitively expensive when needed in large quantities, such as in large-scale biodiversity sampling. In Brazil, for example, it is illegal to carry large amounts of commercial alcohol on long journeys, which could hinder its use in extensive field expeditions. Here we propose the use of ethanol fuel as a cheaper and logistically feasible alternative... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3361084
"Actualización en pediculosis capitis" (PDF). Sociedad Argentina de Pediatria (in Spanish). La cuasia amarga (palo amargo) se extrae de un arbusto que crece en el norte de la Argentina. El principio activo que se extrae de la madera es la cuasina y químicamente es un hidrocarburo soluble en alcohol. Popularmente se lo usa como repelente de piojos y como pediculicida. Es efectiva únicamente en solución alcohólica y no en solución acuosa. Así es tan efectiva como una solución pura de alcohol por lo cual se duda de su efecto pediculicida "per sé" y es irritativa http://sap.org.ar/docs/publicaciones/pediculosis.pdf
[needs update]Mumcuoglu, Kosta Y.; Barker, CS; Burgess, IF; Combescot-Lang, C; Dagleish, RC; Larsen, KS; Miller, J; Roberts, RJ; Taylan-Ozkan, A. (2007). "International Guidelines for Effective Control of Head Louse Infestations". Journal of Drugs in Dermatology. 6 (4): 409–414. PMID 17668538. /wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Dates_and_numbers#Chronological_items
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