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 …
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Collembola (Springtails) (Arthropoda: Hexapoda: Entognatha) Found In Scrapings From Individuals Diagnosed With Delusory Parasitosis
Twenty individuals diagnosed with delusory parasitosis participated in a single site clinical study under the auspices of the National Pediculosis Association (NPA) and the Oklahoma State Department of Health. The objective of this study was to determine if there were any common factors in skin scrapings collected from this population. These individuals, whose symptoms were originally attributed to lice or scabies, were part of a larger group reporting symptoms of stinging/biting and/or crawling to the NPA. Multiple skin scrapings from each person were microscopically examined. Any and all fields of view that appeared incongruous to normal human skin were digitally photographed. When the photographic images were initially evaluated, no common factor was identified. However, more extensive …