
Superlice FAQ
What are Super Lice?
Not so super after all! “Super lice” means lice that have developed resistance to pesticides used for killing them. It is a term coined by the media in 2015 after published research showed strains of head lice had developed resistance to pyrethroids, the type of pesticide used in over-the-counter lice treatments.
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Expanded research published in 2016 showed that lice samples from 48 states carried the pesticide-resistant genes. Southern Illinois biologist Dr. Kyong Yoon has been researching lice with Dr. John Marshall Clark at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst for 15 years. These researchers have found that over that period, lice have gotten more and more resistant to pyrethroid products. In one report they noted that studies from 1995 indicated that permethrin was at least 96 percent effective, but recent reports are showing efficacy rates dropping to as low as 28 percent.
“If you have or your children are infested with head lice, there is a high chance that those lice are over-the-counter product resistant,” Dr. Yoon said at the time of the 2015 announcement.
All this means, however, is that lice are resistant to one type of treatment. “Super lice” is a misleading term because it conjures images of monstrous pests that can’t be killed by anything. The reality is that combing and nitpicking can still be effective, even if time-consuming and tedious; and so is the AirAllé® medical device, which kills lice and eggs (nits) through dehydration.
Lice have evolved resistance to other types of pesticides in other countries as well. There is no evidence showing that lice can evolve resistance to heated air (which is how AirAllé® kills lice) or manual removal.
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What Are Head Lice?
Head lice are tiny insects that live on the scalp. They do not live on pets or other animals. A louse
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Head lice feed on human blood only. A louse does not dig or burrow into the skin–it uses its needle-like mouthparts to suck blood through the skin.
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What Are Nits?
Nits are lice eggs. Academics often distinguish a nit as an empty egg shell attached to the hair, but
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Although much smaller than lice, nits are often easier to spot on the head because they are “glued” to the hair and can’t crawl away. Lice eggs typically hatch 7-10 days after they’re laid. After hatching, the remaining shell looks white or clear and stays firmly attached to the hair shaft.
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What is the life cycle?
Head lice live on your head as either lice eggs (nits) or hatched lice (the lice that crawl through
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The adult louse is no bigger than a sesame seed and is grayish-white or tan. Nymphs are smaller and become adult lice roughly 10 days after they hatch.
Lice feed on blood from your scalp several times a day. Although some lice have been observed living up to 2 days off the scalp, most lice die within 15 hours of coming off the head.
Head lice only live for about three weeks. An adult female louse will lay about five eggs each day. She attaches each egg with a cement-like material that does not wash out.
The eggs do not grow, move or cause any health problems. Once fully developed, the nymph breaks out of the egg, crawls onto the hair and leaves behind the now-empty eggshell. The empty eggshell will never produce another louse, but it will remain glued to the hair until it is broken or cut off.
The nymph will grow in size and shed its skin every few days until it has matured to become an adult. Only adult females can lay eggs.
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What Are The Symptoms?
Scratching. With lice bites come itching and scratching. This is actually due to a reaction to the saliva of lice. However, the itching may not always start right away — that depends on how sensitive
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How do you identify lice?
You may be able to see the lice or nits by parting your child’s hair into small sections and checking for lice and nits with a fine-tooth comb on the scalp, behind the ears, and around the nape of the
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A magnifying glass and bright light may help. But it can be tough to find a nymph or adult louse — often, there aren’t many of them and they move fast. Be sure to check with your child’s school nurse or childcare center director to see if other children have recently been treated for lice. If you discover that your child does have lice or nits, contact the staff at the school and childcare center to let them know. Find out what their return policy is. Many schools have a “No Nit” policy and will not let children return to school if they have nits in their hair.
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How do people get Lice?
Head lice are almost always caught directly from another person, usually children. This typically happens when people are in head-to-head contact, such as when they share a bed or play together
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How do you prevent reinfestation?
Keeping your head away from other heads is your best chance at not getting infested. If you have long hair, putting it in a bun or braid will help.
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Because 50 percent of the time people get infested from other family members, make sure everyone in your family gets checked (and if necessary, treated) when any family member has lice.
There are lice repellant products on the market. They contain essential oils that the lice don’t like to smell. In vitro tests show lice will stay away from essential oils used in those products.
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DO YOU HAVE TO CLEAN THE WHOLE HOUSE
No. Head lice that fall off a person quickly starve and usually die within 15 hours (and most become incapable of feeding between 3-18 hours off a
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Clothing, stuffed animals, theater seats and other items are not threats to spreading head lice. Bathing every day will not prevent or wash away head lice. Cleaning the home or bagging toys and clothing won’t help you prevent or get rid of head lice.
That said, washing clothes or bedding of infested individuals is not a bad idea. When doing so, make sure to wash them in hot water (130° F [54.4° C]), then put them in the hot cycle of the dryer for at least 20 minutes.
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