From Joanna Ibarra, Community Hygiene Concern
Progress reports on new cures for head lice are encouraging, but treatment is only one aspect of this long-standing public-health issue (25 December 2004, p 64). Although most parents treat their children as soon as lice become noticeable, cases that consist of 10 or fewer lice can often be asymptomatic and go unnoticed. Reinfestation in treated children may then occur through contact with these undiagnosed cases.
Paddy Donaldson, medical officer of health for Teesside, UK, demonstrated in the 1970s that coordinated detection by thorough inspection of everyone at risk dramatically reduces the prevalence of head lice. Failure to apply the principles he established has led to the piecemeal use of three groups of insecticide, and lice have consequently become resistant to them.
From Gerald Coles, University of Bristol
The trial of coconut derived emulsion (CDE) referred to in your article on head lice failed to show fully the efficacy of the product. For practical reasons, only two treatments were applied to wet hair during the trial, and some of the children in the families concerned remained untreated. Where three treatments are applied to the dry hair of every member of a family within two weeks, the results are outstanding.
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CDE does have certain limitations. It is not persistent and has no obvious ovicidal effect, so rapid reinfestation is possible, making correct use important. Nevertheless, I believe CDE applied on a family or community basis has the potential to eradicate lice with a safe natural product.
Langford, Bristol, UK
London, UK
