School’s Out For Head Lice in Pennsylvania Town
A grade school in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania was forced to close its doors due to an outbreak of head lice, according to Fox43 News. The school closed for two days in October to deal with the situation.
Local pediatrician Dr. Naazneen Iqbal told the station that the lice outbreak is likely the result of common back-to-school infestations, “Kids are now in school again. We may see a resurgence a bit at the beginning of the school year,” he said.
The resurgence may be exacerbated by the fact that most over-the-counter lice products are no longer effective. A 2016 study published in the Journal of Medical Entomology found that 98 percent of lice in 48 U.S. states and Canada are now resistant to pyrethroids, the class of insecticides used in most lice products. Even worse, these insecticides have been linked to health problems in children.
Some parents resort to homespun remedies like using olive oil, mayonnaise, or petroleum jelly to combat head lice. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there is no evidence that these solutions work. Dr. Iqbal agrees. “Some of the old wives tales where you shave the head or apply like mayonnaise or Vaseline to kind of suffocate the lice we really don’t recommend,” he said.
Up to 12 million U.S. children contract head lice each year, the CDC says. School closures due to head lice are uncommon, but cases are on the rise due to the resistance of head lice to traditional lice products.
Fortunately, there are fast, safe, effective, and guaranteed solutions available. Lice Clinics of America, a company committed to bringing 21st-century technology and science to the fight with head lice, has developed a line of services and products that kill lice and eggs “once and for all,” according to the company.
There are more than 300 Lice Clinics of America treatment centers in 34 countries, making it the world’s largest network of professional urgent care lice treatment centers in the world.
The clinics use the AirAllé medical device, an FDA-cleared product that has been clinically proven to kill live lice and more than 99 percent of eggs (nits) using carefully controlled warm air to dehydrate the bugs and their eggs.
Researchers at the University of Utah studying bird lice developed the AirAllé device. They found that the pigeon lice they were studying didn’t survive in the arid desert climate, often dying of dehydration. When one of the researcher’s children contracted head lice, and the drugstore lice products didn’t work, he came up with a plan to dehydrate the lice. Ten years later, AirAllé was born.
To date, AirAllé has been used to successfully treat more than 800,000 cases of head lice with a success rate better than 99 percent. Because it doesn’t rely on chemicals, it is equally effective against pyrethroid-resistant and non-resistant lice.
To learn more about the AirAllé medical device or to find a Lice Clinics of America treatment center near you, visit www.liceclinicsofamerica.com.
