Experts warning about the rise of super lice

Well, sorry to give you the crawlies. Just a heads up in advance. We’ve heard about a number of bugs that have been resistant to a number of chemicals and treatments, and unfortunately now you can add head lice onto that list. A huge dip after COVID. You know, it was quite took a while to come back, but it’s back fast and furious. The tiny bugs never left, but there’s a jump in cases that even experts are scratching their heads on. We’re seeing it in crazy uptick in cases. We really don’t know what to attribute it to now. There’s been some changes in the school policies on allowing kids to stay with lice. More travel. There are countries that live with lice. Not really sure what it is. Head lice are little insects that live on the scalp. There they lay eggs and that’s where, of course, it multiplies. There are three stages to its life. The adult is the one that lays the eggs and can live on a person’s head for several days. Once the female is impregnated, she’s pregnant her entire life. And unfortunately some over the counter treatments aren’t as effective anymore. A lot of the newer versions are coming out with just non-toxic, but it’s just not working. The wingless insects spread easily, moving around where people are in close contact. They don’t discriminate when it comes to where and who they like to go to. And even though they are commonly found among school aged children, Shonda Walker from Toronto head lice removal company Nitwits says she’s seeing a spike in cases in a particular age range in our older kids that 12 to 18 year old average right now are the ones that just have a lot of lice. Super lice are said to have been around for a few years now, and even though some may be more resistant to some of the ingredients used to slow them down. The age-old methods of removing them remains the same. It’s all about removal. You’ve just got to get it out. We use a non-toxic enzyme that goes in the hair. We use a professional lice comb that Combs at about 90% and then we literally go strand by strand and hand pick out what’s left. The key is the combing and experts also want people to know that you won’t necessarily know that you have the tiny bugs just because you’re feeling a little itchy. Lice is not dirty, doesn’t matter. You have hair, you have blood, you can catch lice we say in here. If you can catch the common cold, you can catch, so being open and commutative about it is the most important thing. Now, we reached out to both the Toronto district and the Toronto Catholic school boards to see if they’ve had any cases of super lice. They say they haven’t, but some general advice to take away for parents. If you have any children that are found to have head lice, best to keep them at home until they’ve been treated in Toronto. Aphia Boss City News.