Report: A very real and serious threat (page 16 of 28)
The greatest potential danger caused by lice developing an immunity to insecticide-based lotions is that parents, faced with continuing outbreaks and their failure to clear them, will simply increase both the dosage and frequency of treatment.
This poses the very real and serious threat to children from insecticide poisoning. Particularly in cases where excessive scratching has caused skin damage.
The Harvard School of Public Health in the US says: “The greatest harm associated with head lice results from the well-intentioned but misguided use of caustic or toxic substances to eliminate the lice.”
The UK Public Health Medicine Environmental Group (PHMEG) is unequivocal in its advice about using treatments which have failed once before. Under the heading ‘Cardinal rule after chemical treatment’, it states:
“Insecticide preparations should not be used for more than one complete treatment of two applications, seven days apart, unless a careful assessment has been made.”
