Lice literature update April 2015

An updated Clinical Evidence profile for head lice treatments was published in early 2015, as well as a study on effectiveness of French head lice treatments.

Updated Clinical Evidence profile

An updated systematic review for evidence of lice treatment effectiveness has been published by Burgess and Silverstone in BMJ Clinical Evidence.

The review covers clinical study databases up to March 2014, as well as relevant evidence for harm. Six randomly controlled trials were evaluated, and substantive changes to the evidence profile were made for the following potential treatments: 1,2-octanediol, dimeticone, herbal and essential oils, isopropyl myristate.

Assessment of French over-the-counter lice treatments

A study by Combescot-Lang, et al., published in the February 2015 edition of Parasitology Research, considers ex vivo effectiveness of twenty-one over-the-counter lice treatments available on the French market.

Products were tested for efficacy against both lice and eggs; six products were found to have potentially complete efficacy against both lice and eggs.