Super lice are real. The nasty little critters have developed immunity and cannot be killed easily with today's commercial lice killers. MSNBC has an article about super lice.
Researchers have been warning for years that head lice in the U.S. and around the world are developing immunity to the strong insecticides used in over-the-counter and prescription shampoos. It takes just three to five years for the bugs to adapt to a new product, despite claims to the contrary by the manufacturers, noted Shirley C. Gordon, an associate professor at Florida Atlantic University who studies persistent head lice.
Health officials have continued to recommend the products, however, because over-the-counter medications like the permethrin in Nix, the pyrethrin s in RID, the lindane in Kwell and the prescription malathion in Ovide still work in some people, some of the time.
But the nation's school nurses, often the first defense against the scourge, say it's clear to them that families confronted with the critters are increasingly frustrated by the product failures.
The super lice still look the same as regular lice - a louse is about the size of a sesame seed. In the video below lice expert Dr. Daniel Rauch recommends some smothering products including mayonnaise and olive oil. The regular lice-fighting shampoos are not as effective as killing super lice. These products have to stay on the head for two to four hours. It sounds gross putting this in your hair but it sure beats having super lice.
The Associated Press reports that there has been an alarming rise in the number of reported bedbug infestations at homes and hotels in the United States.
After waking up one night in sheets teeming with tiny bugs, Josh Benton couldn't sleep for months and kept a flashlight and can of Raid with him in bed.
"We were afraid to even tell people about it at first," Benton said of the bedbugs in his home. "It feels like maybe some way you're living is encouraging this, that you're living in a bad neighborhood or have a dirty apartment."
Absent from the U.S. for so long that some thought they were a myth, bedbugs are back. Entomologists and pest control professionals are reporting a dramatic increase in infestations throughout the country, and no one knows exactly why.
"It's no secret that bedbugs are making a comeback," said Dan Suiter, an associate professor of entomology at the University of Georgia.
The AP says bedbugs dissapeared out of the public eye after the 40s and 50s because of increase hygiene and use of DDT. Now bedbugs have returned and reports continue to escalate. The article says bedbugs infestations have increased significantly in places with high turnover rates like hotels, hospitals and college dormitories. This isn't the first article about the return of bedbugs. An article from last year noted that bedbugs can survive without food for four months! And an article from last November here on HealthNewsBlog.com discussed an increase in bedbugs in New York City -- one of the cities that has seen a large rise in reported bedbug problems. That blog post also contains links to several more resources about bedbugs.
There are plenty of fears these days terrorism, hurricanes, bird flu and global warming but a recent New York Timesarticle says an old fear is hitting New Yorkers in their beds. The Times says bedbugs are back in New York City with a vengeance. Bedbug violations have soared this year.
Last year the city logged 377 bedbug violations, up from just 2 in 2002 and 16 in 2003. Since July, there have been 449. "It's definitely a fast-emerging problem," said Carol Abrams, spokeswoman for the city housing agency.
The bedbugs are very difficult to remove and bedbug victims often become obsessed with their unwanted bed partners.
Like many "bedbug victims," as some call themselves, Josie Torielli has become consumed with the biology of bedbugs since she found them in her home last year. She blamed mosquitoes for the blotches on her body until she turned on the lights one night and found a few of the fiends crawling across her sheets.
She thought she had them conquered, but last week, after nine months of peace, Ms. Torielli discovered the telltale red spots on her sheets, the result of blood-engorged bugs crushed during the night.
"I've become obsessed," said Ms. Torielli, 33, a student who lives in Hell's Kitchen, in Manhattan. "I switched to white sheets so I can see them better, and I've set up a bedbug jail in a Tupperware container that I put on the windowsill to torture them with daylight. It's all-out war."
The article says female bedbugs lay 500 eggs in a lifetime and that bedbugs can survive for an entire year without food. Below are a few more bedbug resources if you need more information.
The Associated Press 