Pair of Prescription Meds Newly Advised for Head Lice

A new set of recommendations has been released by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in the latest edition of “Pediatrics”, concerning the treatment and other issues surrounding head lice.

The comprehensive guidelines represent an update to the previous recommendations, which were released in 2002. While a 1997 report is often cited with a lice estimate of 6-12 million cases per year, experts believe the estimate to be ambitious. Lice do not pose a serious medical issue and thus are not reported to health departments, making it difficult to quantify the number of cases.

As with many other medical problems, lice are evolving with resistances to common treatments. The 2002 guidelines, which recommended permethrin (otherwise known as Nix) as the best treatment, were issued before the resistances were widespread. The new guidelines suggest pyrethrins can also be used to treat lice. Benzyl alcohol is suggested as a last resort. In addition, the age-old treatment of complete head shaving continues to be completely safe and effective for people looking for non-drug lice treatments. The AAP further goes on to argue against no-nit policies for school children, saying healthy children should not be excluded from school simply on the basis of lice.