International recommendations for an effective control of head louse infestations.

Head louse infestations continue to be a concern of public health in most countries, including the most developed ones. The present recommendations are intended to inform and stress the role and impact of the different authorities, institutions, industry, and the public in the control of head lice in order to reduce the prevalence of this parasite. We encourage health authorities to pursue more effective methods to correctly identify such infestations, and evaluate existing and new pediculicides, medical devices, louse repellents, and louse- and nit-removal remedies.

Management of Head Louse Infestations in the United States-A Literature Review.

Unlabelled: Head lice are a source of scalp irritation, social disruption, and loss of school time. Health care providers need authoritative information to help avoid the costs and risks of ineffective treatment. A review was completed to provide relevant information on infestation treatments available in the United States.

Topical 0.5% ivermectin lotion for treatment of head lice.

Background: The emergence of resistance to treatment complicates the public health problem of head-louse infestations and drives the need for continuing development of new treatments. There are limited data on the activity of ivermectin as a topical lousicide.

Methods: In two multisite, randomized, double-blind studies, we compared a single application of 0.

International guidelines for clinical trials with pediculicides.

Pediculosis capitis, infestation with head lice, is common in all human societies. Chemical pediculicides are often used to control head louse infestations, particularly in wealthy communities. A significant number of different protocols have been used to test the efficacy and safety of pediculicides in clinical trials; this constrains scientific comparison of the evidence for efficacy of the different pediculicides.

Effects of blood type and blood handling on feeding success, longevity and egg production in the body louse, Pediculus humanus humanus.

The effects of feeding different types of human blood to human body lice, Pediculus humanus humanus L. (Phthiraptera: Pediculidae), on feeding success, longevity and numbers of eggs laid were investigated using an artificial blood-feeding system in the laboratory. No significant differences were found between lice fed on different human blood types for any of the parameters tested.

The clinical trials supporting benzyl alcohol lotion 5% (Ulesfia): a safe and effective topical treatment for head lice (pediculosis humanus capitis).

Benzyl alcohol lotion 5% (BAL 5%) is a non-neurotoxic topical head lice treatment that is safe and effective in children as young as 6 months of age. The safety and efficacy of this pediculicide has been studied in 695 (confirm number) subjects in all phases of clinical development. Scanning electron micrographs (SEM) demonstrated that the active agent appears to stun the breathing spiracles open, enabling the vehicle to penetrate the respiratory mechanism (spiracles), therefore asphyxiating the lice.

A randomized, investigator-blinded, time-ranging study of the comparative efficacy of 0.5% malathion gel versus Ovide Lotion (0.5% malathion) or Nix Crème Rinse (1% permethrin) used as labeled, for the treatment of head lice.

One hundred seventy-two subjects with head lice participated in a five-way, investigator-blinded, parallel-group, active-controlled study comparing 0.5% malathion gel (30, 60, and 90 minutes applications), Ovide Lotion (0.5% malathion), and Nix Crème Rinse (1% permethrin).

Head louse infestations: the "no nit" policy and its consequences.

Health authorities in the USA, Canada and Australia recommend a "no nit" policy, i.e. the immediate dismissal of all children who have head lice, eggs and/or nits on their hair from school, camp or child-care settings.

Stress and blood pressure in Kuna Amerinds.

Is migration from isolated indigenous island communities to Panama City associated with an increase in stress? Individuals were randomly sampled from two Kuna communities: 325 individuals in Panama City and 133 on a Caribbean island. Stress was assessed through the Milcom questionnaire, which explores physical symptoms and symptoms relevant to mood and emotional state, and Cantril's ladder, which examines life satisfaction. Physical symptoms were more common in the urban community (p < 0.

Efficacy of a reduced application time of Ovide lotion (0.5% malathion) compared to Nix creme rinse (1% permethrin) for the treatment of head lice.

Our objective was to conduct a randomized, investigator-blinded evaluation of the pediculicidal and ovicidal activity of a reduced application time (20 minutes) of Ovide (0.5% malathion) compared to Nix (1% permethrin) in a south Florida population infested with Pediculus humanus capitis. Either Ovide or Nix was applied according to the label instructions.

Clinical update on resistance and treatment of Pediculosis capitis.

The anatomy and physiology of head lice make them extremely adaptable to their human hosts but also difficult to eradicate. Their coloring and small size make them difficult to see, and the larvae, or nymphs, have multiple exoskeletons for protection. When exposed to pediculicides, a nymph can shed its outer exoskeleton and receive only a sublethal dose.

Changing paradigms in parasitic infections: common dermatological helminthic infections and cutaneous myiasis.

Parasitic diseases caused by helminths, or worms, account for billions of human infections worldwide. Although most human pathogens caused by these organisms are infrequent in the United States, skin manifestations of parasitic diseases are being seen much more frequently in dermatologists' offices due to the increase in immigration and travel. Helminths are notable for their complicated lifecycles often including consecutive developmental phases, in separate hosts or in a free-living state.

Ivermectin.

Ivermectin is a potent antiparasitic drug and the first commercially available member of a new class of drugs (macrocyclic lactones) that has been approved for human use. Ivermectin has already proven to be highly effective in the elimination of river blindness as a public health burden. Side effects have been minor, and patient acceptance is good.

An observer-blinded study of 1% permethrin creme rinse with and without adjunctive combing in patients with head lice.

Objectives: To determine if NIX (Warner Lambert Healthcare, Morris Plains, NJ) 1% Permethrin Creme Rinse Lice Treatment (1% PLT) without combing will effectively treat >/=95% of patients on day 2 or on day 15; to determine whether combing influences efficacy.

Study Design: A randomized, observer-blinded study enrolled 95 infested adults and children. All patients were treated with 1% PLT on day 1 and, if still infested, on day 8.

Comparative in vitro pediculicidal efficacy of treatments in a resistant head lice population in the United States.

Objective: To compare the pediculicidal activity of 5 head lice products available in the United States on head lice from south Florida.

Design: In vitro pediculicidal product comparison.

Setting: Lice Source Services, Inc, located in Plantation, Fla, a clinic for the treatment and grooming of individuals with pediculosis capitis.

Comparative efficacy of treatments for pediculosis capitis infestations: update 2000.

Objective: To evaluate the pediculicidal and ovicidal activity of 5 head lice products.

Design: In vitro pediculicidal and ovicidal product comparison.

Setting: Tropical field station in Panama.

Age, renal perfusion and function in island-dwelling indigenous Kuna Amerinds of Panama.

Background/aims: Among possible contributors to a progressive fall in renal perfusion and function with increasing age, some hypotheses have invoked the rise in blood pressure that occurs with age, and a high-protein diet typical of urban cultures. Kuna Amerinds residing in isolated islands off the Panamanian Coast have a very low protein intake and show no tendency for blood pressure to rise with age, thus providing an opportunity to test these hypotheses.

Methods: We measured renal plasma flow and glomerular filtration rate (PAH and inulin clearance) in 16 Kuna Indians ranging in age from 18 to 86 years (51 +/- 6 years) who have resided on Ailigandi, an isolated Panamanian island for all of their lives.

Isolation, amplification, and sequencing of human mitochondrial DNA obtained from human crab louse, Pthirus pubis (L.), blood meals.

The ability to identify individual human hosts based on analyses of blood recovered from the digestive tract of hematophagous arthropods has been a long-term pursuit in both medical and forensic entomology. Blood meal individualization techniques can bring important advancements to studies of vector-borne disease epidemiology. Forensically, these analyses may aid in assailant identification in violent crime cases where blood-feeding insects or their excreta are recovered from victims or at crime scenes.