Super lice: drug resistant parasites

OHIO – Populations of drug resistant lice have been found in 25 states in the U.S., including Ohio.

Experts presented information on their findings at an American Chemical Society meeting on August 18. Scientists said lice gene mutations have been linked to a resistance to pyrethroids, a family of insecticides used to kill lice in over-the-counter treatment products.

The genetically mutated lice have been named “super lice,” and a recent study out of Southern Illnois University Edwardsville found that 25 states in the U.S. have confirmed populations of super lice.

Kyong Yoon, a professor at SIUE, said the university found 104 out of 109 lice populations tested had high levels of gene mutations, which were linked to resistance to pyrethroids, according to a statement from the American Chemical Society.

A map from the American Chemical Society shows states in pink as having high levels of resistance to common lice treatments. Ohio is a pink state.

This is not the first time mutated lice has been found in the U.S.

The University of Massachusetts Amherst published a study in March 2014 that looked at the genes of lice in 32 sites in the U.S. and Canada. The university found that 99.6 percent of those tested in 2007-09 were resistant to the chemicals most frequently used to treat them.

Loretta Cornell, Richland Public Health clinic nursing supervisor, said there are no known cases of super lice in Richland County. She said the department uses the product DeBug to handle lice cases.

Cornell said there is no definite proof that over-the-counter treatments don’t get rid of lice.

“At this time, there is no concrete proof that over-the-counter treatments don’t work,” Cornell said. “Drug resistance has been an ongoing problem with antibiotics, so it is not unreasonable to think that this may have happened with the treatment of lice.”

Parents and schools should always be concerned about lice, according to Cornell.

“Parents in Richland County should always be concerned about lice. If treatment for lice is not done thoroughly, the lice will return,” she said. “Schools should always be concerned of chronic cases of lice. Nit picking is critical for any lice treatment.”

Tips on how to get rid of lice can be found on the health department’s website.

Lice is often itchy and irritating, but it is not a health hazard because lice doesn’t spread disease, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

USA Today contributed to this report.

dhess@gannett.com

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Twitter: @dhessnj