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  • 2015-08-21 (xsd:date)
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  • Are New 'Super' Lice Spreading Across the U.S.? (en)
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  • In August 2015 (just as kids were heading back to school around the United States), a number of web sites published articles about a purportedly new, treatment-resistant strain of head lice. Among the articles was an 18 August 2015 piece published to TIME, titled Head Lice in 25 States Are Now Resistant to Treatment. (A regional news site later described it not-at-all terrifyingly as genetically mutated super lice.) Given head lice are a massive inconvenience to schools and families without added superpowers, the news spread across Facebook and Twitter quickly. Citing new research presented at the American Chemical Society’s national meeting, the article reported: The articles coincided with an 18 August 2015 press release published by the American Chemical Society. While the release and subsequent reporting were largely congruent, the latter also made it clear that treatment-resistant lice was by no means a new threat. Yoon was described as first having rung the alarm as early as 2000, after separate concerns arose in the 1990s: So the problem of mutated head lice wasn't necessarily a new one, as the press release clarified, adding: The solution? Yoon says that lice can still be controlled by using different chemicals, some of which are available only by prescription. CNN echoed the sentiment: On 20 August 2015, boston.com published an article titled ‘Mutant’ head lice study funded by companies that treat head lice which reported: A correction appended to the piece conflicted with CNN's assertion the data had not been peer reviewed: Correction: An earlier version of this article erroneously stated that the study was not peer-reviewed before it was presented. In fact, it was peer-reviewed and published in the Journal of Medical Entomology. However, the study linked by the site was dated 14 March 2014, and its findings weren't precisely news. Moreover, the data involved were collected between 1999 and 2009 (years before news articles appeared in 2015 heralding the imminent invasion of super lice). So while it's true that some research supports the claim lice are growing resistant to common treatment products, researchers first began to observe that trend nearly two decades ago. And although it doesn't necessarily compromise research findings, studies on lice resistant to over-the-counter products have been funded by pharmaceutical companies concurrently marketing prescription-only treatments for head lice. (en)
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