A new strain of harder-to-kill lice are resistant to the usual treatments, according to a study by the Journal of Medical Entomology.
Parasitic “super lice” do not respond to the pesticides that are in traditional treatments.
Adult lice are described by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as roughly 2-to-3 millimeters long.
"Head lice infest the head and neck and attach their eggs to the base of the hair shaft," according to the CDC. "Lice move by crawling; they cannot hop or fly."
Because lice infestation, or pediculosis, is spread by close person-to-person contact, dogs, cats and other pets do not play a role in the transmission of human lice, according to the CDC.
These super lice take only a second to spread from one head to another and the problem is becoming more common.
“There’s lots of head-to-head contact and togetherness, so that’s how they actually get it is touching heads,” Jennie Lasater told Channel 2 Action News.
Lasater is the founder of Lice Ladies in northeast Atlanta. She told Channel 2 her business always picks up when kids go back to school.
Heidi Eirhorne told the television station her family is dealing with lice for the first time.
“We had already seen a pediatrician for some itchy scalps and they didn’t find anything there, so it’s really critical that you go to a specialist because even a pediatrician who we adore was not able to find it,” Eirhorne said.
Lice Ladies uses enzyme-based products to fight super lice and recommends oils as a preventive measure.
A once-a-week hair combing with a lice comb helps determine if a problem exists, too.
“Some children are allergic to the feces or the saliva from the lice bites,” Lasater wrote on the website. “This can cause itching … however, not everyone is allergic to these things!”
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