The NPA has been helping people around the world since long before there was an Internet. This section features some of the timeless articles and editorials that appeared in peer review journals, newspapers and from the NPA's own publications. Please note that many of these resources will open as pdfs and other document types and some may open not yet formatted for our relaunched website. Return to complete listing of classic articles. 2010The Lindane Project: A Petition to the United States GovernmentLindane is a persistent bioaccumulative toxic (PBT) chemical to which the US population continues to be exposed to and at risk from the past and current use via the ambient air, water, soil, food, manufacturing, Superfund sites, stockpiles, recycled plastic and the …
Genome sequences of the human body louse and its primary endosymbiont provide insights into the permanent parasitic lifestyle
As an obligatory parasite of humans, the body louse (Pediculus humanus humanus) is an important vector for human diseases, including epidemic typhus, relapsing fever, and trench fever. Here, we present genome sequences of the body louse and its primary bacterial endosymbiont Candidatus Riesia pediculicola. The body louse has the smallest known insect genome, spanning 108 Mb. Despite its status as an obligate parasite, it retains a remarkably complete basal insect repertoire of 10,773 protein-coding genes and 57 microRNAs. Representing hemimetabolous insects, the genome of the body louse thus provides a reference for studies of holometabolous insects. Compared with other insect genomes, the body louse genome contains significantly fewer genes associated with environmental sensing and …
New Studies Validate Old Wisdom
By Deborah Z. Altschuler “They use combing to validate an active infestation, quantify lice and nits by counting what the comb removes from their test subjects, as well as confirm and compare therapeutic efficacy.” The March 11, 2010 New England Journal of Medicine published a study comparing the use of a pesticide called malathion to the use of an oral antibiotic called ivermectin to determine the efficacy of each in treating children with head lice (pediculosis). http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/362/10/896 According to this report, head lice are universal human parasites affecting over 100 million people worldwide each year. The study was conducted on children who had already been treated with topical insecticides yet continued to have live lice. “Infestation was …
The Lindane Project
The Lindane Project is a petition to the United States Government to cancel lindane’s registration as a pharmaceutical as it has been cancelled by the EPA for all other uses. THAT this compilation of government surveillance documents the presence and persistence of the pesticide lindane and its related isomers in the United States. THAT the world via the Stockholm Convention has voted to take proactive measure to protect the citizens of the world from lindane and related isomers while the U.S. did not ratify the Convention but asked and received exception to allow lindane to be directly applied to humans as a pharmaceutical. THAT lindane was banned by the US Secretary of the Interior in 1970 for use as a pesticide on lands managed by …
Genotyping of Human Lice Suggests Multiple Emergences of Body Lice from Local Head Louse Populations
Genetic analyses of human lice have shown that the current taxonomic classification of head lice (Pediculus humanus capitis) and body lice (Pediculus humanus humanus) does not reflect their phylogenetic organization. Three phylotypes of head lice A, B and C exist but body lice have been observed only in phylotype A. Head and body lice have different behaviours and only the latter have been involved in outbreaks of infectious diseases including epidemic typhus, trench fever and louse borne recurrent fever. Recent studies suggest that body lice arose several times from head louse populations...We propose a hypothesis for the emergence of body lice, and suggest that humans with both low hygiene and head louse infestations provide an opportunity for head louse variants, able to ingest a larger …
Cluster of Sylvatic Epidemic Typhus Cases Associated with Flying Squirrels, 2004–2006
In February 2006, a diagnosis of sylvatic epidemic typhus in a counselor at a wilderness camp in Pennsylvania prompted a retrospective investigation. From January 2004 through January 2006, 3 more cases were identified. All had been counselors at the camp and had experienced febrile illness with myalgia, chills, and sweats; 2 had been hospitalized. All patients had slept in the same cabin and reported having seen and heard flying squirrels inside the wall adjacent to their bed. Serum from each patient had evidence of infection with Rickettsia prowazekii. Analysis of blood and tissue from 14 southern flying squirrels trapped in the woodlands around the cabin indicated that 71% were infected with R. prowazekii. Education and control measures to exclude flying squirrels from housing are …
Cluster of Sylvatic Epidemic Typhus Cases Associated with Flying Squirrels, 2004–2006Read More
Worldwide Prevalence of Head Lice
To the Editor: Pediculosis capitis has been well-known since antiquity (1). Human infestation can result in psychological frustration for parents and children (2); furthermore, preventive and therapeutic practices, such as head shaving and the “no-nit” policy of excluding infected children from school, can also induce social stress. We sought to synthesize the available evidence regarding the worldwide prevalence of lice infestation in the 21st century by conducting a literature search of PubMed and Scopus databases in which we searched for the term pediculosis. We also searched Google for the terms head lice/pediculosis capitis and individual country names and evaluated references of the articles and reports retrieved through this search. Eligible studies were archived from January 1, …
Tiny Bugs Wreak Havoc; Report of Collembola as Human Parasites Supports Recent Research Findings
A 1955 report to the medical literature, apparently overlooked or ignored, sheds new light on the National Pediculosis Association's efforts to alert the medical community and health officials to the ability of Collembola to infest humans. Needham, MA, August 19, 2005 -- Collembola, also known as springtails or snow fleas, are described in the authoritative "Biology of Springtails" by Hopkin as among the most widespread and abundant terrestrial arthropods on earth. Collembola are referred to as the earliest fossil proof of insect life on the planet. Why should people care? Collembola are being found in human hair and skin. Infestations appear to be communicable from particular environmental conditions or from one person to another, and there is no known cure once a person is …
An Emerging Health Crisis — Where’s Dr. House When You Need Him?
Needham, MA (PRWEB) May 19, 2005 -- If it weren't so tragic, it could be the story line in a Stephen King novel. Each day the National Pediculosis Association (NPA) is contacted by individuals describing the torment and horror of oozing skin lesions, sensations of bugs biting and crawling under their skin and doctors who diagnose it as nothing more than a delusion. In a 1994 Ladies Home Journal article about children who suffered seizures after being exposed to Lindane, a treatment for lice and scabies, the NPA provided a toll free number to launch the first national reporting registry for lice and scabies outbreaks, product failure, and adverse reactions to treatments. Adverse reaction reports to the NPA registry about Lindane led to the FDA giving Lindane a black box and its strongest …
An Emerging Health Crisis — Where’s Dr. House When You Need Him?Read More