Researchers at the Southern Illinois University (SIU) and the University of Massachusetts (UMass) have discovered a new mutated form of head lice that could prove to be more resistant to common types of treatments available on the market.
SIU assistant professor Kyong Yoon and UMass professor John Marshall Clark revealed the preliminary findings of their research on mutated lice during the American Chemical Society (ACS) conference in Boston on Tuesday.
The researchers collected samples of lice from 30 different states and discovered that 25 of these states were home to lice that had knock-down resistance mutations, a type of genetic mutation that benefits certain species of insects, such as house flies, survive the effects of insecticides.
Yoon explained that using chemicals repeatedly can help these types of insects develop resistance, which is why it is important to consider this before applying any treatment.
"The good news is head lice don't carry disease," Yoon said. "They're more a nuisance than anything else."
The specific genetic mutations have been found in other insect species to help them resist the effects of common insecticides, such as the chemicals used in producing common over-the-counter lice treatments.
The researchers, however, were not able to determine if the mutated lice are capable of surviving over-the-counter lice treatments in practice. They instead studied if there has been an increase in the number of reports regarding treatment-resistant lice in the states affected by these common pests.
Pediatrician Dr. Joseph Gigante of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center said that the findings outlined in the research were interesting, but that they were too preliminary to determine if the mutated lice are resistant to drugs and could possibly cause a far-reaching problem.
He pointed out that further research is needed to identify if these lice are indeed resistant to common over-the-counter treatments.
"We see it with antibiotics that in the lab test tube it's resistant, [but] if you treat them with the medicine you see a response," Gigante said.
He added that he is eager to see more research in this particular field, and that he has seen more patients with persistent cases of lice despite undergoing treatments using two to three over-the-counter medications.
Gigante advised patients not to panic and to treat head lice using over-the-counter drugs more than once. He said that while lice may be itchy and annoying, these insects do not spread disease.
Photo: Gilles San Martin | Flickr
