Drug-resistant lice on rise as school year begins

They found almost all lice populations had high levels of gene mutations linked to treatment resistance. One or two mutations were present in samples from four states; Michigan was the only state without any mutations. Now, however, lice and other pests are growing increasingly resistant to the active chemical in most over-the-counter medicines.

Kyong Sup Yoon, PhD, an assistant professor at Southern Illinois University, presented his findings Tuesday at the American Chemical Society’s National Meeting & Exposition.

There are treatments available at all-natural food stores that could help prevent and kill “super lice”. Why lice haven’t developed resistance there is still under investigation, Yoon says.

The resistance of lice to pyrethroids has always been existent, says Yoon.

Parents are facing an alarming discovery as millions of children begin the school year: Drug-resistant head lice are very likely coming to a school near you.

She said other options can include a comb treatment, but overall, she’s not seeing a lot of mutated lice around the Milwaukee area. Yoon found that numerous lice did as a matter of fact have those kdr mutations, which affect a bug’s nervous system, desensitizing them to pyrethroids.

She said she has seen more lice cases from teenagers and young adults, attributing some instances to posing for pictures and “selfies” where heads are touching.

The CDC reports that children between the ages of three and 11 are the most at risk for getting lice.

Doctors say your phone can also be to blame for the spread of lice.

While the news is shocking to most people, he says it isn’t to the research community, which has known for years that pyrethroid-resistant lice were proliferating.

He cautioned that if you use a chemical over and over, “these little creatures will eventually develop resistance,” however.

“It may become more of a problem and we may need to rethink how we’re going to handle it, based on how big of a problem it actually becomes”, Shaw said. “If one of them survives, they have the potential of making more”.