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The National Pediculosis Association,® Inc.
| Dec 24 |
Mounting proof means that these micro-tiny pests (collembolan) will be surprisingly invasive.
"For those who’ve by no means heard of Collembola, you are not alone. Till current years, it was thought that these soil borne creatures had been basically innocent. Even medical doctors vehemently denied that springtails had been prone to infest human hair and pores and skin. People who suffered from persistent itching, biting and crawling sensations had been typically thought of delusional, however that mindset is slowly altering. Mounting proof means that these micro-tiny pests will be surprisingly invasive."
-- Source: Onlinekotv. |
| Dec 2 |
Acute poisoning in a child following topical treatment of head lice (pediculosis capitis) with an organophosphate pesticide.
"This is a case report of acute organophosphate poisoning in a child treated with topical application of Diazinon-60 (WHO Class II toxicity) for head lice (pediculosis capitis). The patient presented with neurological symptoms and signs. After emergency respiratory and circulatory resuscitation the patient underwent dermal decontamination and was treated with atropine, high flow oxygen and pralidoxime. Scanning electron micrographs of scalp hair specimens revealed both viable and empty head lice nits (lice eggs that attach to the hair shaft). The patient was hospitalized for seven days and discharged after full recovery. The case highlights the importance of raising the awareness of health workers and the community about the danger of misusing pesticides for the treatment of head lice."
-- Source: US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health. |
| Nov 11 |
Head Lice
Epidemiology, Biology, Diagnosis, and Treatment.
"Conflicting information about the proper treatment of head lice has given rise to uncertainty among patients and treating personnel. For example, the reported efficacy of permethrin fell from 97% in the 1990s to 30% in 2010."
-- Source: Laura Meister, Dr. med. and Falk Ochsendorf, Prof. Dr. med. |
| Sept 2 |
COLOR ME HEALTHY.
"More than just a tool to keep children occupied, coloring books provide an entertaining, friendly, and interactive medium that can simplify otherwise complicated health-related subjects. Important public-health issues are conveyed to children in coloring books in a way that can transform an unpleasant subject into an engaging learning opportunity. For instance, it is uncommon to associate the word “cute” with “lice,” however the The Latest Greatest Coloring Book About Lice, a collection item in the National Library of Medicine’s (NLM) historical Prints & Photographs collection, achieves such a feat. This 10 page teaching tool produced by The National Pediculosis Association (NPA) contains whimsical drawings of lice in a story about where they live, how they move, and how people can get rid of them."
-- Source: US National Library of Medicine - Circulating Now. |
| Sept 2 |
Back-To-School Lice Advice.
"Getting head lice is easy. Getting rid of it can be a challenge. Before you rush to the pharmacy for treatments, Consumer Reports reveals lice-killing alternatives that are safe and more effective."
-- Source: WOWT News. |
| Sept 1 |
September is National Pediculosis Prevention Month: How Not to be Surprised by Head Lice.
"Relaxed school head lice policies fail to protect children from risky treatments and may contribute to more exposures. The National Pediculosis Association offers tips to parents to be proactive as a cooperative community so head lice won’t catch them or their children by surprise.
September kicks off NPA’s annual educational campaign, which will last the whole year long."
-- Source: National Pediculosis Association. |
| August 22 |
UPV teams dominate Unilab Ideas Positive Run 6, wins grand prize.
"Team PH Cares that won first place is composed of BS Public Health students namely, Romena Castor, Bea Marisse Daayata, Carl Laurence Deala, Krisleen Marie Mayormita, and Maulene Mae Namuag .Their community health project entitled, “Oplan 4Ks: Kaakibat Kontra Kuto sa Kabataan” was able to eradicate pediculosis or lice infestation in more than 500 elementary school children in Miagao West Central Elementary School. Their innovative health solution to this neglected public health problem included the creation of a comic book that tells the story of lice infestation and why children with this condition should not be bullied. They conducted storytelling events and hygiene lectures during the 6-month duration of their project.
The team partnered with Deborah Altschuler and the National Pediculosis Association, Inc. based in Massachusetts, USA in distributing LiceMeister combs in their “Kontra Kuto Kits” to families of the school children. Other than conducting health campaigns to the school and the neighboring communities, the team also conducted free hair cut sessions and “hairobics”, a new way of exercising that highlights the importance of hair hygiene."
-- Source: University of the Philippines Visayas. |
| July 12 |
Sweden's leading pharmacy chain bans headlice products containing dimethicone from its shelves nationwide.
"Sweden’s leading and highly respected pharmacy chain, removed all products that contain cyclic silicones from their shelves for good. They stated ‘At the pharmacy we are very careful to check the content of everything we sell. If there are questionable ingredients in the products we do not want them on our shelves…cyclic silicones are widely used in cosmetics and hair care products. Unfortunately some of them have unpleasant characteristics…for example cyklotetrasiloxane affects fertility and cyklopentsiloxane can affect the liver and respiratory tract."
-- Source: The Hairforce. |
| July 5 |
Atmospheric concentrations and loadings of organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls in the Canadian Great Lakes Basin.
"Air samples were collected between 1992 and 2012 at three sites with different geographical characteristics (Burnt Island, Egbert and Point Petre) in the Canadian Great Lakes Basin (GLB) using high-volume samplers and analyzed for organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Spatial and temporal trends of gas-phase concentrations of OCPs, selected PCB congeners and ƩPCBs (84 congeners) were assessed. Egbert had the highest concentrations of some OCPs due to historical [dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs), dieldrin, γ-hexachlorocyclohexane (γ-HCH)] and current (endosulfan) applications of these pesticides in the surrounding agricultural cropland. This shows that agricultural areas are a source of OCPs to the GLB."
-- Source: Environmental Pollution. |
| June 20 |
Children found with lice and ringworm in a house with no food.
"The children had dental problems, ringworm and lice when they were assessed by social workers."
-- Source: The Journal. |
| June 10 |
Low-Dose Chemical Exposure and Cancer.
"According to estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), environmental toxic exposures are responsible for between 7% and 19% of human cancers. However, the 2008–2009 President's Cancer Panel Annual Report estimated that the 'true burden of environmentally induced cancers has been grossly underestimated.' While the amount of cancers related to chemical exposures is not easily defined, it has been scientifically verified that individual chemicals can independently enable many of the mechanisms of the carcinogenic process."
-- Source: ASCO Post. |
| June 6 |
Prevalence of head lice in Turkey, Iran, Greece and Senegal.
"Several recent studies shed light on the prevalence of lice infection, and its relationship to socioeconomic factors, across the globe... A new study investigating lice prevalence in south eastern Turkey has found a 5% increase in the rate of infection among primary school students... A recent survey of households in northwestern Iran found an overall lice prevalence rate of 6%, with strong correlation to family income... A recent survey in Athens also found strong correlations between infection rate and household income..."
-- Source: Pediculosis.com. |
| June 4 |
Head lice probably resistant to ivermectin recovered from two rural girls in Dielmo, a village in Sine-Saloum, Senegal.
Diatta G, Abat C, Sokhna C, Tissot-Dupont H, Rolain JM, Raoult D.
-- Source: Int J Antimicrob Agents. |
| June 2 |
Lindane Lotion – Drug Discontinuation.
"On June 2, 2016, the FDA announced the discontinuation of Wockhardt Bio AG/Morton Grove
Pharmaceutical’s Lindane 1% lotion.
-- Source: Optum. |
| June 2 |
Lindane Lotion Discontinuation.
"Wockhardt/Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals announced discontinuation of Lindane Lotion 1%. They've decided to stop manufacturing product as of 6-2-16." - Noted in Current and Resolved Drug Shortages and Discontinuations Reported to FDA
-- Source: United States Food and Drug Administration. |
| May 18 |
Parents 'bugged' by Pullman school lice policy.
"A less restrictive policy regarding lice has parents at Sunnyside Elementary School scratching their heads... Previously, most schools have required children with lice to be sent home, in an attempt to prevent the spread to other children."
-- Source: KHQ Local News. |
| May 1 |
Malathion – A carcinogen? New data have become available, and these have been taken into consideration
in the present evaluation.
There is strong evidence that exposure to
malathion-based pesticides is genotoxic
based on studies in humans, in experimental
animals, and in human and animal cells in
vitro.
-- Source: IARC Monographs. |
| Apr 10 |
Japanese Monkeys Like to Socialize, Even With Nits to Pick
Social life is good for you, even when your friends have lice — if you’re a Japanese macaque.
-- Source: New York Times. |
| Mar 31 |
Expansion of the Knockdown Resistance Frequency Map for Human Head Lice (Phthiraptera: Pediculidae) in the United States Using Quantitative Sequencing.
"Pediculosis is a prevalent parasitic infestation of humans, which is increasing due, in part, to the selection of lice resistant to either the pyrethrins or pyrethroid insecticides by the knockdown resistance (kdr) mechanism. To determine the extent and magnitude of thekdr-type mutations responsible for this resistance, lice were collected from 138 collection sites in 48 U.S. states from 22 July 2013 to 11 May 2015 and analyzed by quantitative sequencing."
-- Source: Oxford University Press. |
| Mar 26 |
Head Lice - The Truth Revealed
Myths about head lice dispelled through evening discussion. Parents, teachers, health workers, head lice experts, and all interested parties welcome. Free event but space is limited. Follow link in title for tickets.
-- Source: University Square Stratford. |
| Feb 11 |
Parent wants 'no-nits' policy reinstated in Holden schools
"After a head lice outbreak in district schools, a parent urged the school board to revive the “no-nits policy” abandoned in 2008.
-- Source: The Daily Star Journal. |
| Feb 9 |
Let's bring back the "NO NIT" policy to Brevard County Schools
"A petition to stop the nonsense allowing children to attend school with active infestations of lice and to bring back a No Nit Policy for a proactive community effort in Brevard County, Florida.
-- Source: Brevard County Schools. |
| Feb 8 |
Meet the ‘rented white coats’ who defend toxic chemicals
"How corporate-funded research is corrupting America’s courts and regulatory agencies."
-- Source: The Center for Public Integrity. |
| Jan 29 |
WARNING!
Safety of oral ivermectin in children
"Ivermectin is an antiparasitic drug, a derivate of avermectins, and a product of fermentation of an actinomycete, Streptomyces avermitilis. Its structure associates two avermectins. Ivermectin acts on the chloride-dependent channels of both glutamate and γ-aminobutyric acid, interrupting neurotransmission in invertebrates. In humans, several mechanisms of brain protection exist, including P-glycoprotein, present on the apical face of endothelial cells of the blood-brain barrier and coded by the MDR1 gene. Ivermectin is presently used in mass treatment of onchocerciasis, other filariasis, some intestinal nematode infections, but also in scabies, and more rarely in resistant head lice. The side effects described are related to the release of antigen and cause an inflammatory reaction. Studies conducted in children or infants have shown good tolerance of ivermectin. However, its use in infants who weigh less than 15kg is a problem because of the absence of marketing authorization for this age group. However, the risk of excessive and uncontrolled use in head lice requires close surveillance." Note: Article in French.
-- Source: Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
PMID: 26697814 |
| Jan 28 |
No school for kids with lice, board rules
"The board’s policy is to notify the student’s family about the discovery of head lice and to provide information from the public health unit on the best options for treatment."
-- Source: Timmins Today |
| Jan 22 |
Home remedy for 18-month-old's case of lice ends in tragedy
"It's a common home remedy used to treat head lice, but for one Massachusetts couple, things didn't go as planned. CBS News reports that an 18-month-old toddler died from suffocation as a result of a botched head lice treatment."
-- Source: The San Francisco Globe |
| Jan 1 |
Louseborne Relapsing Fever in Young Migrants, Sicily, Italy
"Increased migration from resource-poor countries and war/violence create new routes for spread of vector borne diseases. Recently, several cases of LBRF have been reported among asylum seekers from Eritrea in the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Germany (5–8). All of these asylum seekers had been in refugee camps in Libya or Italy. We report 3 cases of LBRF in migrants from Somalia to refugee camps in Sicily, Italy."
-- Source: Emerging Infectious Diseases, by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |
SM
