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If you’ve ever had lice you know the struggle it takes to get through it.
And now, it may be even worse.
Now, research shows that lice is resistant to treatment in at least twenty-five states in America.
Yikes!
Kyong S. Yoon, a professor in Biological Sciences with a PhD in head lice (seriously), has been studying lice since 2000 and is currently conducting an American lice census.
And even though he’s not done, there’s still bad news: in 109 samples in 30 states, the vast majority of these bugs have developed genes that make them resistant to over-the-counter treatment.
There are three genes that can develop to make these populations resistant to the active ingredient in lice treatment. This ingredient is pyrethroid, and it’s a pesticide that’s also used for mosquito repellent. Any of these three gene mutations can make them resistant to pyrethroid, but 25 of the states have lice populations with ALL THREE genetic mutations.
That means these lice populations are super-resistant to treatment, even more than if they just had one of the gene mutations. The other five states? Almost all except one—Michigan—had at least one of the mutations.
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Though lice almost never lead to serious health problems, they are an itchy pain to have. And now, they’re even more of a pain to get rid of.
If you or someone in your family is having a lice problem, try non-pyrethroid prescription treatments, like ivermectin or spinosad, or try a home remedy.
