Special clinics are sprouting up to deal with the critters.
Photo via (cc) Flickr user Gilles San Martin
For years, we’ve been told that overprescribing antibiotics would lead to the evolution of superbugs that couldn’t be killed. Well, it’s happened, and more than 2 million people a year are infected with drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis, gonorrhea, and staph. In the past few months, we’ve seen another bug become superpowered: lice. Over the years, the strongest lice have defeated over-the-counter treatments and bred to create all-powerful and über-disgusting “super lice.”
Since 2015, an outbreak of these superpowered critters, which can’t be killed with traditional medications, has hit 25 states. “The lice themselves have sort of built up a resistance to conventional over-the-counter treatments that most patients use for the treatments,” said Daniel McCrimons, a pediatrician in Sacramento, California. After multiple hair infestations, parents have resorted to lice clinics where the dreaded parasites are killed via dehydration.
How to keep your kids from getting super-lice according to SoCozy:
1. Avoid sharing combs, hats, hairbrushes, pillows, and helmets. SoCozy has a great rhyme to share with kids: “If it touches hair, we don’t share.”
2. Don’t over-wash your child’s hair. Squeaky-clean hair is easier for lice to attach their eggs to.
3. Use lice-preventive spray. Spritz a little on your child’s neck and on items like hats, scarves, and car seats.
(H/T Fox 40)
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