This article was originally published in The Notebook. In August 2020, The Notebook became Chalkbeat Philadelphia.
Parents may have been itching to send their kids back to school after a long summer, but if they’re not careful, they could end up itching from something else.
According to a study published in the Journal of Medical Entomology, head lice in 42 out of 48 states, including the Keystone State, are resistant to over-the-counter medication.
A group of scientists collected lice samples from 138 sites across 48 states — Bryn Mawr was the only collection site for Pennsylvania. Out of the 138 sites, 132 showed that due to a genetic mutation, the lice were resistant to pyrethroids and pyrethrins, the active ingredients in most over-the-counter lice medications.
Cue the frustration and the head-scratching.
“I would say more than half of my clients that have come through [my office] have tried over-the-counter medicines first,” said Sharon Rizzuto, owner and operator of Lice Clinics of America in Conshohocken, Montgomery County, which opened in June. “And then have called because that is not working.”
Aside from their ability to withstand over-the-counter medication, resistant lice are no different than normal lice. According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), lice are not a health hazard. However, resistant lice can be more of a nuisance.
“There definitely are times," said Jessica Stickley, a nurse at Society Hill Pediatrics in Philadelphia, “where we have had families who are frustrated because they have tried OTCs sometimes more than once. And by the time they’re calling me, they’re like, ‘I’m so done, please fix this.’”
Head lice mostly affect children from preschool to elementary school ages. Although the Philadelphia Department of Health doesn’t suggest excluding children with lice from school, District schools still send children home early to receive treatment.
Shannon Smith, school health service coordinator for the Philadelphia School District, served as a nurse in schools throughout the city for 20 years. She said that in her current role, she has to deal with resistant lice “all of the time now.” School nurses across the District have shifted their attention from treatment to prevention, and they are sharing tips with schools to pass on to parents, she said.
“For instance,” Smith said, “in the coatroom, sometimes [the students] throw their hats and gloves together in a pile on the floor. We’re suggesting that they keep them in bags and keep them separate from each other, as well as not sharing items such as hats and combs and brushes with each other in the classroom.”
Also, for parents treating a child with lice, Smith warns against overusing lice treatments..
“The problem is the medicine that treats the lice is actually a neurotoxin,” Smith said. “So when you put it on a child’s head … a little bit is going to get absorbed into their bloodstream. So you can’t have a child treated over and over and over with that medication because of that very reason.”
If parents find that their children have a case of resistant lice, the CDC suggests seeing a physician for further treatment.
For more information about lice prevention and treatment, visit www.cdc.gov or Lice Centers of America.