Head lice, Pediculus humanus capitis, infestation is an important public health problem in Egypt. Inadequate application of topical pediculicides and the increasing resistance to the commonly used pediculicides made the urgent need for the development of new agents able to induce irreversible changes in the exposed lice leading to their mortality. The aim of the present work is to evaluate pedi...

We studied the effects of environment- (habitat, season) and host-related (sex, body mass) factors on the occurrence of four species of lice (Insecta:Phthiraptera:Anoplura) on six rodent species (Rodentia:Muridae). We asked how these factors influence the occurrence of lice on an individual host and whether different rodent-louse associations demonstrate consistent trends in these effects. We f...

Numerous therapies are available in both over-the-counter and prescription formulations for the treatment of head lice infestation. We summarize treatment recommendations from published literature and from a recent meta-analysis from the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews that describe the efficacy, safety, and resistance patterns of monotherapies available in the United States. If treatme...

BACKGROUND Malathion 0.5% has been the most prescribed pediculicide in the United Kingdom for around 10 years, and is widely used in Europe and North America. Anecdotal reports suggest malathion treatments are less effective than formerly, but this has not been confirmed clinically. This study was designed to determine whether malathion is still effective and if 4% dimeticone lotion is a more e...

Lice are small, wingless, minor ectoparasites of mammals and birds. More than 540  blood-sucking lice (Phthiraptera: Anoplura) have been described with each host having its own type of louse, suggesting the cospeciation of the lice species with their host. Among these, two lice species from two different genera infest humans: Pediculus humanus and Phthirus pubis (pubic “crab” l...

BACKGROUND Head lice infestation (HLI) is a vexing problem for pediatricians and families because lice are becoming resistant to approved antipediculosis agents. OBJECTIVE This study compared the efficacy of 3 different treatments for HLI and determined whether combination therapy reduced treatment failures. DESIGN AND SETTING A randomized, clinical trial performed in 3 private practices. ...