Because parents and school health professionals rely heavily on CDC’s guidance, it is imperative that CDC's information be kept as current and accurate as possible. NEWTON, Mass. (PRWEB) September 22, 2020 The COVID-19 pandemic has been a striking reminder of the need for preparedness regarding public health issues. As children return to school and other group settings in this challenging environment, the National Pediculosis Association (NPA) wants to minimize pediculosis (head lice) as an additional burden by ensuring that parents have access to public health information that is current, accurate and trustworthy. To this end, NPA reviewed the website guidance on head lice published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and identified a number of concerns. …
Back to School in the Era of COVID-19 NPA Says: Parents Still Need to Be Prepared for Head Lice
The National Pediculosis Association’s (NPA) 2020 head lice prevention campaign offers the first comprehensive list of the benefits of combing, a basic hygiene measure. NEWTON, Mass. (PRWEB) August 25, 2020 Back to school 2020 is fraught with challenges for parents and school leaders trying to figure out whether, let alone how, children and staff can return to school safely amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The heightened attention to this communicable virus has reminded us of the importance of having comprehensive management protocols in place in anticipation of public health issues that affect children – including recurring communicable diseases, such as pediculosis (head lice). Like hand washing, combing is a basic hygiene measure. www.headlice.orgNational Pediculosis …
Pediculosis capitis among school-age students worldwide as an emerging public health concern: a systematic review and meta-analysis of past five decades
Pediculosis by Pediculus humanus capitis is still an important health issue in school-age students worldwide. Although pediculicidal agents effectively kill head lice, the re-infestation rate is still high. This study was conducted to provide a summary of evidence about the prevalence of pediculosis capitis among school-age students worldwide. Different databases including MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched for publications related to pediculosis capitis in school-age students from 1977 to 2020. All peer-reviewed original research articles describing pediculosis capitis among school-age students were included. Parasitol Res. 2020 Oct;119(10):3125-3143. doi: 10.1007/s00436-020-06847-5. Epub 2020 Aug 15. From: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32803332/ …
The National Pediculosis Association Calls for A Critical Review of the Centers for Disease Control’s Website Information on Lice
As public health officials develop guidelines for these challenging times of COVID-19, the NPA wants to minimize head lice as a public health burden when children return to school. NEWTON, Mass. (PRWEB) June 18, 2020 The National Pediculosis Association (NPA) is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to promote the health and wellness of children regarding pediculosis (head lice infestation) through consistent public health messaging, community preparedness, cooperation and trust. The NPA appreciates the complexity of these times as the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic affect every area of our lives. As restrictions begin to lift, we are all considering how to resume previous activities as responsibly and safely as possible. In this context, the NPA wants to help …
First evidence of the mutations associated with pyrethroid resistance in head lice (Phthiraptera: Pediculidae) from Honduras
Background: The human head louse, Pediculus humanus capitis, is a cosmopolitan blood-sucking ectoparasite affecting mostly schoolchildren in both developed and developing countries. In Honduras, chemical pediculicides are the first line of treatment, with permethrin as their main active ingredient. Despite the extended use of these products, there is currently no research investigating insecticide resistance in Honduran head lice. In head lice, the most common mechanism is knockdown resistance (kdr), which is the result of two point mutations and the associated amino acid substitutions, T917I and L920F, within the voltage-sensitive sodium channel (VSSC)......To our knowledge, this is the first study showing the presence of the C/T mutation responsible of the T917I kdr allele associated …
NPA asks CDC to improve guidance on head lice
"The National Pediculosis Association (NPA) appreciates the complexity of these times with COVID-19. Our intent here is to minimize pediculosis as an additional public health burden when children return to school and other group settings. We would be pleased to lend our assistance to the CDC in updating its published information on head lice in order to help achieve this goal." Please see the National Pediculosis Association's letter to the Centers for Disease Control concerning the CDC's guidance on head lice. Please also see press release. …
Human Head Lice and Their Ability to Transmit Disease: Bridging the Scientific History
Deborah Z. Altschuler. In the early 1900s, the French physician, bacteriologist, and Nobel Prize winner Dr. Charles Nicolle (1866-1936, Figure 1) engaged in scientific research on louse-borne epidemic typhus, which was prevalent in Europe and North Africa. Dr. Nicolle documented the ability of both the human body louse and the human head louse, Pediculus humanus, to transmit typhus. Scientific researchers Anderson, Goldberger, Murray, and Snyder, among others (https://www.headlice.org/comb/zinsser-project/zinsser-lice-and-history/) identified the head louse as a vector of the disease. Yet recent journal articles appear inconclusive on the capability of head lice to transmit disease, overlooking the conclusions of the early scientific trailblazers. See full article at: …
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A World Gone Viral
Pathogens still have the power to change the course of history. We may say we're fighting a war against the coronavirus, but it might be more accurate to say the coronavirus is waging a war against us. Microbes are changing our lives, our economy, our culture. You should know – though it will provide no consolation – that it has ever been thus.Perhaps you assumed that the ability of pestilence to transform the course of history was… well, history, in the sense that modern science, modern public health systems, and such modern bureaucracies as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the World Health Organization would show those nasty little germs who's boss.The Ebola outbreak of 2014-16, the most severe in recorded history, only confirmed …
Ectoparasites: Pediculosis and Tungiasis
Pediculosis is an infestation of lice on the body, head, or pubic region that occurs worldwide. Lice are ectoparasites of the order Phthiraptera that feed on the blood of infested hosts. Their morphotype dictates their clinical features. Body lice may transmit bacterial pathogens that cause trench fever, relapsing fever, and epidemic typhus, which are potentially life-threatening diseases that remain relevant in contemporary times. Recent data from some settings suggest that head lice may harbor pathogens. The epidemiology, clinical manifestations, and management of body, head, and pubic louse infestation are reviewed. New therapies for head lice and screening considerations for pubic lice are discussed. Tungiasis is an ectoparasitic disease caused by skin penetration by the …