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KEY WORDS Pediculus humanus capitis, pediculicide, nonchemical treatment, heated air
Head lice (Pediculus humanus capitis De Geer) are a al. 1999, Burkhart and Burkhart 2000, Lee et al. 2003,
major problem for children and their parents Kwon et al. 2008). Moreover, some pediculicidal prod-
throughout the world (Roberts 2002, Burgess 2004, ucts have side effects, ranging from mild allergic re-
Frankowski and Bocchini 2010). Symptoms of head actions to severe seizures (Frankowski and Bocchini
lice infestations (pediculosis capitis) include itching, 2010), and many parents prefer not to treat their
psychological stress, and the possibility of secondary children with chemicals, even if they are safe
bacterial infections (Meinking 1999). Millions of cases (Burkhart 2004).
occur annually (Frankowski and Bocchini 2010), and One strategy for dealing with resistant populations
it has been estimated that children in the United States of head lice is to use chemicals to which head lice have
miss 12Ð24 million days of school per year because of not yet acquired resistance, such as oral ivermectin
head lice (Roberts 2002). Unfortunately, the problem (Chosidow et al. 2010). Another strategy is to use a
is increasingly difÞcult to treat because head lice have nonchemical approach; one possibility is heated air.
evolved resistance to some of the most common pe- Heated air has been shown to kill other medically
diculicides in several regions of the world (Pollack et important arthropods, such as ticks (Carroll 2003). In
the case of lice, Kobayashi et al. (1995) reported that
Disclosure of potential conßicts of interest: Larada Sciences is a body lice (P. h. coporis) can be killed in vitro with air
University of Utah spin-off company involved in the creation and
marketing of the LouseBuster device tested in this study. D.H.C., a
from a blow dryer at 50⬚C for 5 min, and that body
Professor of Biology at the University of Utah, coinvented the Louse- louse eggs fail to hatch in vitro after exposure to hot
Buster and is a cofounder of and consultant to Larada Sciences. A.N.R. air at 55⬚C for 90 s. More recently, Goates et al. (2006)
is an employee of Larada Sciences, and S.L.J. and J.R.M. were em- evaluated several approaches for killing head lice and
ployees in the past.
1 Department of Biology, 1400 East 257 South, University of Utah, their eggs with large volumes of heated air. The most
Salt Lake City, UT 84112. promising method was a custom-built, heated-air
2 Corresponding author: Department of Biology, 1400 East 257 blower with a comb-like hand piece. The prototype
South, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112 (e-mail: device, dubbed the LouseBuster, was tested by expe-
bush@biology.utah.edu).
3 Larada Sciences, 350 West 800 North, Salt Lake City, UT 84103. rienced operators on a limited number of subjects in
4 Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children Cancer Center-He- an arid climate (Utah, where it was developed). The
matology Service, 6701 Fannin Street CC 1500, Houston, TX 77030. prototype showed promise, but the comb-like hand
N = 56
Subjects treated
N = 41 subjects N = 15 subjects
Treated by experienced operators Treated by novice operators
scalp was randomly divided into two halves, as follows: viable eggs (those with intact opercula). Egg mortality
a pretreatment side and a posttreatment side (Fig. 1). was calculated as 100% ⫺ %Hatch. EfÞcacy was de-
This study design is more powerful than a standard termined by comparing the percentage of mortality of
randomized controlled trial because each subject lice and eggs from the pre- and posttreatment samples
serves as his or her own control. The design minimized of lice.
any inßuence of genetic or environmental variation in Before treatment, subjects were instructed to give
the subjects or their lice, including any effects intro- a “thumbs-down” signal to indicate any discomfort
duced by previous head lice treatments. For each from the heated air (Goates et al. 2006). If this oc-
subject, the operator randomly selected a pretreat- curred, we immediately removed the applicator from
ment side of the subjectÕs scalp and combed it using 20 the hair for a few seconds to allow the scalp to cool,
careful swipes of a LiceMeister comb (National Pe- then resumed treatment. Although subjects were in-
diculosis Association, Needham, MA) (Goates et al. formed to let us know whether they wanted to dis-
2006). If one or more live, moving lice were detected continue treatment because of any discomfort, none
90 90
Experienced Novice
operator study operator study 80
Ambient Humidity. EfÞcacy was high in both hu- Coray 2004). The evolution of resistance to many
mid and arid regions of the country. Posttreatment pediculicides, by comparison, is relatively simple
mortality of lice and eggs was 93.7% (⫾1.0%) for the (Kwon et al. 2008).
19 subjects treated in Florida and Tennessee (66 Ð75% No adverse events attributed to the LouseBuster
mean annual relative humidity) (NOAA 2002). It was took place in this study. The efÞcacy of the Louse-
95.0% (⫾1.2%) for the 27 subjects treated in Utah Buster is also independent of hair length, thickness,
(46 Ð55% mean annual relative humidity) (NOAA and curliness. The device is easy to use with any hair
2002). There was a signiÞcant difference in efÞcacy type because the applicator is not moved through the
between humid and arid regions; however, the differ- hair like a comb, but is held in place on each section
ence was only 1.3% (Wilcoxon rank sum Z ⫽ ⫺1.98, of the scalp being treated. The results of this study also
P ⫽ 0.048). demonstrate high efÞcacy of the LouseBuster in both
Adverse Events. No adverse events attributed to the humid and arid regions of the country. Moreover, the
LouseBuster were noted by experienced or novice device performed well in the hands of novice opera-
Frankowski, B. L., and J. A. Bocchini, Jr. 2010. Clinical re- Moyer, B. R., D. M. Drown, and D. H. Clayton. 2002. Low
port: head lice. Pediatrics 126: 392Ð 403. humidity reduces ectoparasite pressure: implications for
Goates, B. M., J. S. Atkin, K. G. Wilding, K. G. Birch, M. R. host life history evolution. Oikos 97: 223Ð228.
Cottam, S. E. Bush, and D. H. Clayton. 2006. An effec- [NOAA] National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-
tive non-chemical treatment for head lice: a lot of hot air. tion. 2002. Climate Atlas of the United States. (http://lwf.
Pediatrics 118: 1962Ð1970. ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/about/cdrom/climatls2/info/atlasad.
Heukelbach, J., D. Pilger, F. A. Oliveira, A. Khakban, L. html).
Ariza, and H. Feldmeier. 2008. A highly efÞcacious pe- Pollack, R. J., A. Kiszewski, P. Armstrong, C. Hahn, N. Wolfe,
diculicide based on dimeticone: randomized observer H. A. Rahman, K. Laserson, S. R. Telford, III, and A.
blinded comparative trial. BMC Infect. Dis. 8: 115.
Spielman. 1999. Differential permethrin susceptibility
Kobayashi, M., T. Hiraoka, and M. Mihara. 1995. 1995. Ther-
of head lice sampled in the United States and Borneo.
motolerance of the human body louse, Pediculus humanus
corporis. II. Preliminary evaluation of hot air for killing Arch. Pediatr. Adolesc. Med. 153: 969 Ð973.
adults and eggs. Jpn. J. Sanit. Zool. 46: 83Ð 86. Renault, D., and Y. Coray. 2004. Water loss of male and
Kwon, D. H., K. S. Yoon, J. P. Strycharz, J. M. Clark, and S. H. female Alphitobius diaperinus (Coleoptera: Tenebrion-