Head!

July 6th, 2024| Topic: RaMbLeS | 0

There have been, of late, anecdotal reports about a universal rise in head lice cases, reported Lindsey Bever in The Washington Post recently. These critters are itch-generating parasites that live on the scalp, and are typically spread through direct head-to-head contact, mostly among children.

And one reason for the increasing number of cases? Selfies! Yup. Group selfies, in particular, which often involve two or more heads together to fit into a cellphone frame. And juxtaposed heads could well provide head lice an opportunity to crawl from one head to another, as they cannot jump or fly.

Declared Federico Galassi, a researcher with the Pest and Insecticide Research Center in Buenos Aires:

Selfies serve as a significant transmission source.”

It is not entirely certain that head lice outbreaks are getting worse. Some head lice removal clinics in North America and parts of Europe are reporting an uptick in demand for their services.

Krista Lauer, national medical director of Lice Clinics of America, a nationwide lice removal company:

We have seen growth all across the country, an 18 percent increase in in-clinic treatments and a nearly 20 percent rise in lice-removal product sales over a 12-month period ending in April of 2024.”

Clinics outside the United States are reporting similar situations. Nitwits, a lice removal clinic in Toronto, reported that 2022 was particularly quiet but business started to pick up late last summer and that they have seen a significant increase. And Lice Squad, which has clinics across Canada, has seen about a 50 percent increase in service requests over the past year. And even in the U.K., apparently.

But some experts said that many countries may simply be seeing a return to pre-pandemic lice levels. Lice outbreaks fell sharply during the early days of the pandemic when most children were not allowed to go to school or day care or engage in extracurricular activities.

Albert Yan, a pediatric dermatologist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and one of the of the authors of the clinical report on head lice from the American Academy of Pediatrics explained:

We know that kids are back in the classroom, doing playdates, playing sports, doing the activities they used to do. It’s not surprising that we are returning to what I suspect are more expected levels of head lice infestation.”

At least one expert is skeptical, however, saying that because many of the reports of lice infestations come from commercial lice-removal clinics, the anecdotal reports may reflect marketing efforts. Asserted Richard Pollack, a public health entomologist from Harvard University:

In my research, the majority of children who were presumed to have lice did not. Many had other types of bugs in their hair— aphids, ants, beetles—from playing outside, or other culprits, including dandruff, hair spray residue, and even cookie crumbs.”

In any case, stay away from group selfies! If you value your head!

Even more important than avoiding selfies, is avoiding wickedness. If you value your head. A fate worse than lice might befall you from an indignant Judge.

God is a righteous judge,
and a God who is indignant all day.
If he [the wicked] does not repent, His sword He sharpens;
His bow He draws and prepares it.
And for Himself He prepares weapons of death;
His fiery arrows He makes.
Behold, he [the wicked] labors harm,
and he conceives trouble, and he delivers falsehood.
A pit he has excavated, digging it [out],
and he falls into the hole he made.
It returns—his trouble—onto his head,
and upon his crown his violence lands.
Psalm 7:11–16

SOURCE: The Washington Post