Head Lice Treatment Comes with Burn Warning
Keep Wet Hair Away from Heat Source; Malathion Product is Flammable
Oct 7, 2009
Parents have another good reason for not lighting up a cigarette around kids: head lice. Or rather, the reason is the new Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved malathion treatment that contains alcohol. The new head lice treatment comes with more than just routine safety warnings for use, and there is certainly no less work involved. The chemical lotion might kill more adult insects, but the treatment still entails hours of nit-picking, and examining every strand of hair on the child's head with a magnifying glass. If every single live egg isn't eliminated, infestation will start all over again.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which features a page titled, "Malathion" (No author given, 2008), "Malathion ... is a prescription drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of head lice infestation. The malathion lotion approved in the United States for the treatment of head lice is safe and effective when used as directed. Malathion lotion ... is both pediculicidal (kills live lice) and partially ovicidal (kills some lice eggs)."
Quick Facts about Head Lice
Parents have a right to be upset considering how much time and work it takes to remove lice and nits from a child's hair. Pediculosis in the classroom can easily infest an entire school. Thousands of kids pick up head lice in school each year, and that means classroom absences and disrupted schoolwork. What's worse is a child who is infested with head lice can easily transfer insects to family members at home.
A single adult insect is called a louse, and the eggs are called nits. Head lice are gray or brown in appearance. Lice crawl; they don't jump or fly. The adult louse is about the size of a sesame seed. The parasitic insects feed on human blood and can live on the scalp, in the eyebrows and eyelashes of the host/victim. Nits are gray and shaped like teardrops. Barely visible to the eye, nits attach to hair strands with a sticky "glue-like" substance that makes them difficult to remove even with lice combs. Head lice don't carry any known diseases, according to the CDC.
How Children Catch Head Lice
A child that combs his or her hair in the classroom, locker room, or bathroom can send bugs airborne to land on other students. Other common ways kids can catch head lice:
- Sharing personal items like brushes, combs, barrettes, headbands, scarves, coats and hats.
- Attending sleepovers or slumber parties where someone is infested.
- Attending camp where items are commonly shared and campers live and eat in close quarters.
- Playing on infested carpets at home or at school.
- Sitting on infested furniture such as chairs, couches and beds.
- Sitting in a vehicle after a person who is infested, including cars and school buses.
- Sharing towels at home (or elsewhere) with someone who is infested.
- Sharing headphones and toys – especially stuffed animals, with someone infested.
- Contact sports with a person that is infested.
Treating Head Lice with Prescription Malathion Lotion
Older chemical shampoos and lice treatments fail to work because head lice have become resistant to the products. Many families can't afford head lice treatments and resort to home remedies like trying to smother the bugs with mayonnaise. Others might use cheaper chemical treatments like dog shampoo.
Malathion is a colorless solid organophosphorus insecticide. The new product destroys adult lice, but the manufacturer recommends leaving the lotion in the child's hair for 8 to 12 hours. Furthermore, the product contains alcohol and is flammable. Parents are warned not to let the child with wet treated hair near an open flame or heat source, including (but not limited to) cigarettes, heaters, and hair dryers. And just as with the older lice pesticide products, picking out the nits can take hours and there is no guarantee against re-infestation.
Not much has changed beyond treating the child. Head lice can only live a day or two without a human host, and the nits survive about a week. To prevent other family members from coming in contact with lice, it is recommended that bedding, clothing and toys be washed in hot water and dried in a dryer using a high heat setting. Vacuuming is recommended for furniture and carpets.
Lice are a nuisance to teachers, parents, and the victims that suffer from infestation. Traditional products have become resistant to head lice, making them ineffective. The new malathion product doesn't guarantee complete elimination of lice and nits, and "nit-picking" can still take hours to complete. What's more, the malathion product is flammable, though the FDA has deemed it safe to use on school-age children.
Parents dread the work involved in treating kids for head lice, and many cannot afford the cost. Until a safe, full-proof and fast-acting lice treatment becomes available, parents and kids will continue to suffer from pediculosis.
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