The treatment of Pediculosis capitis, or head lice, is fraught with misinformation, myths, and mismanagement. Common myths include the need to exclude children from school, the need to remove all visible nits ("no-nit" policies), the need for massive environmental cleaning, that head lice live for long periods of time, and that schools are a common location for lice transmission. Head lice are ...

Pediculus humanus humanus is an human ectoparasite which represents a serious public health threat because it is vector for pathogenic bacteria. It is important to understand and identify where bacteria reside in human body lice to define new strategies to counterstroke the capacity of vectorization of the bacterial pathogens by body lice. It is known that phagocytes from vertebrates can be hos...

BACKGROUND Lack of guidelines on control of pediculosis in the Solomon Islands led to a search for relevant evidence on head lice in the Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs). The aim of this search was to systematically evaluate evidence in the peer reviewed literature on pediculosis due to head lice (Pediculus humanus var capitis) in the 22 PICTs from the perspective of its value i...

The first mycetome was discovered more than 340 yr ago in the human louse. Despite the remarkable biology and medical and social importance of human lice, its primary endosymbiont has eluded identification and characterization. Here, we report the host-symbiont interaction of the mycetomic bacterium of the head louse Pediculus humanus capitis and the body louse P. h. humanus. The endosymbiont r...

Understanding the evolution of parasites is important to both basic and applied evolutionary biology. Knowledge of the genetic structure of parasite populations is critical for our ability to predict how an infection can spread through a host population and for the design of effective control methods. However, very little is known about the genetic structure of most human parasites, including t...

BACKGROUND Head lice infestation caused by Pediculus humanus var capitis (Pediculus capitis) is a worldwide public health concern that affects mostly school aged children. This descriptive, analytical study was carried out in 2008 to determine the prevalence of pediculosis capitis and some risk factors among primary-school pupils in Bahar, Hamadan Province, Iran. METHODS We selected 900 pupil...

Lemongrass leaves are a typical plant of South Kalimantan which contain anti-insecticide, namely secondary metabolites such as alkaloids, saponins, tannins, steroids and triterpenoids. Pediculosis is disease caused by tick infection still neglected becomes health problem. One way to get rid head lice use natural ingredients that anti-insecticide substances. This study aims examine the possibili...