You have to thank Charles Darwin for this next story, because in the United States an evolved breed of lice has been discovered. They are called super lice because the medicine that would work on normal lice doesn’t work on them.
Now they are plaguing the country.
“They are extremely hard to get rid of,” Gerry Wolburg of Virginia Lice Removal in Chesterfield told reporters. “Pesticides, shampoos don’t work on them and a lot of other home products, home treatments don’t work either.”
READ: Lice-infested toddler dies after her home remedy goes wrong
For the most part, these louse look the same, but they have acquired a resistance to many previously reliable removal methods.
The best way to address the issue is to get rid of the eggs.
“And if you miss the eggs, they will hatch and you will have a new brood of lice on your head,” said Wolburg. “They’ll just lay more eggs and the cycle keeps perpetuating itself.”
Now there are facilities designed to treat super lice with chemicals and heat.
READ: 8 Natural ways to remove head lice off your child
Wolburg said that there are a few things that kill eggs: heat, cold, electricity. “Out of all those three, we recommend heat.”
If you see one member of the family with lice, it’s best that you have the rest of the family examines because they can easily transfer from one person to another.
For example, something as simple as taking a selfie with a person who has it, with your heads close together, is enough for the bag to craw onto your scalp.
“All you have to do is basic wipe down and vacuuming and any clothing and bedding that the person has been in contact with for the last 48 hours has to be washed,” Wolburg recommends. “Most importantly, it has to be dried on a hot setting for at least 10 minutes.”
Lice treatment
No reports yet whether the super lice have reached Asian shores, but here are a few reminders on lice treatment you might want to know:
- Before treating one family member, check others in the household for bugs. Then treat everyone who’s infected at the same time, to avoid passing lice back and forth.
- Afraid of using medicated shampoos? Fear not. Doctors say that such products are safe to use as long as they are used according to instructions.
- If you find lice experts advise treating them with over-the-counter medicated shampoos called pediculicides (derived from chrysanthemums). The most common pediculicides are applied to dry hair, left on for 10 minutes, and then rinsed off.
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