How long do louse eggs take to hatch? A possible answer to an age-old riddle.

There are no rigorous data on how long eggs of the head louse, Pediculus capitis (Phthiraptera: Pediculidae), take to hatch. Pediculicide users often report reinfestations after apparently successful treatments in the absence of infective contacts. This study aimed to resolve the question of whether some louse eggs hatch after the completion of treatment, thereby giving rise to a new infestation. Data were extracted from the records of lice collected after treatments in 20 clinical intervention trials. All datasets were eliminated except those in which only newly hatched louse nymphs were found prior to the final assessment. This excluded the possibility that new eggs were laid after the first treatment and thus any young lice found must have originated from eggs laid before the start of treatment. This identified 23 of 1895 (1.2%) records with evidence of louse nymphs emerging at 13 days or more after the first treatment, 3­6 days longer than previous estimates. Current treatment regimens for pediculicides of two applications 7­10 days apart appear inadequate, which may explain continuing infestation in the community. Therefore, it is suggested that a revised approach using three treatments applied at intervals of 1 week should prevent the survival of any nymphs and their development into a new generation of adults.

Do nit removal formulations and other treatments loosen head louse eggs and nits from hair?

Eggs of the head louse, Pediculus capitis De Geer (Phthiraptera: Pediculidae), are difficult to remove because the female louse fixes them to hairs using a proteinaceous secretion that hardens within seconds. The persistent eggshells are harmless but unsightly and are often mistaken for an active infestation. Combing with a fine comb (nit comb) does not readily remove the eggs or empty eggshells because of the resilience of the fixative and both folk remedies and medical products have claimed to facilitate their removal. Measurement of the force required to initiate sliding of the egg fixative using a slip-peel tester was unable to detect evidence that any of three products which claimed to have egg-loosening properties (Step 2 Nit Removal System, Clear Lice Egg Remover, RID Lice Egg Loosener Gel) had any activity or exerted any effect on the egg fixative beyond the lubricating effects conveyed by water or conventional hair conditioner.

Plastic detection comb better than visual screening for diagnosis of head louse infestation.

Finding lice can be difficult in head louse infestation. We compared a new louse detection comb with visual inspection. All children in two rural Turkish schools were screened by the two methods. Those with lice were offered treatment and the results monitored by detection combing. Children with nits only were re-screened to identify latent infestations. Using visual inspection we found 214/461 children (46%) with nits but only 30 (6.5%) with live lice. In contrast detection combing found 96 (21%) with live lice, of whom 20 had no nits. Detection combing was 3.84 times more effective than visual inspection for finding live lice. Only 10/138 (7.2%) children with nits and no lice were found to have active infestation by day 16. We found that the detection comb is significantly (P<0.001) more effective than visual screening for diagnosis; that nits are not a good indicator of active infestation; and that treatment with 1% permethrin was 89.6% effective.

DNA detection rates of host mtDNA in bloodmeals of human body lice (Pediculus humanus L., 1758).

Using polymerase chain reaction, we investigated the extent to which digestion affects the potential to amplify 12S mitochondrial DNA sequences from bloodmeals of individual human body lice (Pediculus humanus L.) (Phthiraptera, Pediculidae) up to 72 h after feeding on a surrogate rabbit host (Oryctolagus cuniculus L.) (Lagomorpha, Leporidae). Two rabbit-specific primer pairs were developed to produce amplicons of 199 bp and 283 bp, the smaller of which was found to have a significantly slower decay rate. Median detection periods (T50) for the amplicons were 20 h and 12 h, with maximum detection periods of 24 h and 12 h, respectively, suggesting an inversely proportional linear relationship between amplicon size and digestion time. The data provide an indication of timeframes essential for the design of forensic sampling protocols and a basis for investigating the feeding frequency of human lice.

An investigation and comparison of the bioactivity of selected essential oils on human lice and house dust mites.

The insecticidal potency of some essential oils suggests that they may find an application in the control of house dust mites, but current in vitro assays for mites do not appear to give consistent results. A simple, novel, mite chamber assay was therefore developed to carry out testing. Different species of insects are susceptible to different essential oil components, so we compared the relative acaricidal and pediculicidal activity of three essential oils: tea tree, lavender and lemon, because the activity of their constituents on lice ranges from highly active to virtually inactive. The most effective essential oil against both lice and mites was tea tree oil; lavender was the second most effective, and lemon oil the least, although it did show activity against mites, unlike lice. The assay proved simple and effective and gave reproducible results.

Lethality of essential oil constituents towards the human louse, Pediculus humanus, and its eggs.

Essential oils have been widely used in traditional medicine for the eradication of lice, including head lice, but due to the variability of their constitution the effects may not be reproducible. In an attempt to assess the contribution of their component monoterpenoids, a range of common individual compounds were tested in in vitro toxicity model against both human lice (Pediculus humanus, an accepted model of head lice lethality) and their eggs, at different concentrations. No detailed study into the relative potencies of their constituent terpenoids has so far been published. Adult lice were observed for lack of response to stimuli over 3 h and the LT(50) calculated, and the percentage of eggs failing to hatch was used to generate ovicidal activity data. A ranking was compiled for adult lice and partially for eggs, enabling structure-activity relationships to be assessed for lethality to both, and showed that, for activity in both life-cycle stages, different structural criteria were required. (+)-Terpinen-4-ol was the most effective compound against adult lice, followed by other mono-oxygenated monocyclic compounds, whereas nerolidol was particularly lethal to eggs, but ineffective against adult lice.

Biology and epidemiology of scabies.

Only recently have attempts been made to develop techniques for the early identification of scabies infections and to identify the genome of the mites. Most work with scabies employs rudimentary technology and requires skill for accurate diagnosis. Many countries still have no widely available dermatology service to deal with this infection and its sequelae.

The travels of a lone star tick.

A lone-star tick, Amblyomma americanum, was found as a pedunculated lesion on the back of the arm of an 84 year old man in Northern Ireland. This was acquired on a visit to the USA. The tick is found mainly in Texas and the Ozark mountains of Missouri, with scattered foci in other parts of southern USA. It is the vector of Rocky Mountain spotted fever. As worldwide travel becomes increasingly common, exotic parasites make occasional appearances in northern Europe.

Cutaneous parasites.

Recent developments in leishmanial research include better survey procedures to determine risk factors in the community. Community-based scabies control is seen as the only way to reduce the morbidity caused by this infection in developing countries. The diagnosis of both infections, and of head lice, however, continues to provide problems for the physician.

Synergized pyrethrin mousse, a new approach to head lice eradication: efficacy in field and laboratory studies.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the pediculicidal and ovicidal efficacy of a new, single-application formulation of synergized natural pyrethrins (presented in an aerosol mousse form) compared with an established, effective formulation based on permethrin (in a creme rinse form). The trial was a single-blind, comparative, randomized, parallel-group study. Children between the ages 7 and 15 years and adults with active head lice infections, identified by the presence of live lice, were enrolled from a school and a children's home in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Prevalence of infection ranged from 75% to 100% in the two study centers. The field study confirmed laboratory findings showing pyrethrin mousse to be effective at killing both lice and their eggs with a single 10-minute application. Of 52 patients identified with lice, 42 were treated with pyrethrin mousse and 10 with permethrin creme rinse. In each case, a sample of viable louse eggs was taken from the patients' hair before and after treatment. The eggs were then incubated to assess ovicidal activity. After treatment, the patients were examined for lice on alternate days until day 8 and then again on day 14. None of the patients in either group was found to have lice up to 2 days after treatment. One patient was found to have two moribund hatchlings on day 4. By day 6, when any eggs still present on the scalp would be expected to hatch, 19 pyrethrin mousse-treated patients were available for assessment. Two patients had been reinfected from contacts.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)