The American Academy of Pediatrics has recently updated it's guidelines on head lice in schools.

The AAP indicates that head lice screening  programs in schools have not been proven to be particularly effective with a minimum impact on the incidence of head lice in schools. In addition, these programs are not value for money, and may stigmatize children suspected of having head lice. 

A new study has examined the genetic diversity of head and body lice collected from Bobigny, which is located near Paris (France), and confirmed for the first time the presence of clade E head lice in France. Clade E has upto this point been found mainly in lice from West Africa.

A new study has evaluated the response of head lice to volatiles that emanate from the human scalp, identifying the volatile components of the odor and the attractive or repellent activity of their pure main components.

A new study has assessed the in vitro efficacy of five essential oils against adults of Pediculus humanus capitis using a contact filter paper toxicity bioassay and revealed that Clove oil diluted either in coco oil or sunflower oil demonstrated the best adulticidal activity reaching over 90% within 2 hours in lice submitted to a 30 minute contact.

A new study has conclusively established for the first time that both head and body lice reproduce through paternal genome elimination (PGE), an unusual genetic system in which males transmit only their maternally derived chromosomes.

A new study aimed at assessing the in vitro pediculicidal activities of volatile oils extracted from 10 medical plants raised in Turkey has revealed that the volatile oil extract (Rosmarinus officinalis) from the rosemary medical plant was more effective than the other oils.

A new study investigating head lice prevalence in Cambodia has found an overall prevalence rate of 44.3% among school children living in the Battambang.

A new study has assessed the occurrence of bacterial pathogens from head lice collected in two rural villages from Mali, and identified for the first time, the presence of the DNA of two pathogenic bacteria, namely Coxiella burnetii (5.1%) and Rickettsia aeschlimannii (0.6%) detected in human head lice.

A new study has examined the effect of pyrethroids such as permethrin or tetramethrin (TM) on two-pore domain potassium (K2P) channels mainly expressed in sensory neurons and suggested that inhibition of K2P channels facilitates sensory neuron activation and increases their excitability which contributes to the generation of paraesthesias and pain after parathyroid exposure.

A new study investigating the functional properties of ivermectin-induced detoxification genes suggests that ATP binding cassette transporter C4 (PhABCC4) and cytochrome P450 6CJ1 (CYP6CJ1) are involved in the Phase III and Phase I xenobiotic metabolism of ivermectin respectively.