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An Acad Bras Cienc 2022 17;94(2):e20210337. Epub 2022 Jun 17.

Universidade Federal Fluminense, Instituto Biomédico, Departamento de Microbiologia e Parasitologia, Rua Professor Hernani Pires de Melo, 101, Centro, 24210-130 Niterói, RJ, Brazil.

Pediculosis mainly affects school-age children worldwide. The aim of this study was to identify and analyze the knowledge of the parents and guardians of children in elementary schools in Niterói, Brazil, regarding pediculosis. Questionnaires were applied to 237 guardians of children at five 1-5 grade municipal schools. Read More

Sci Rep 2022 Jun 20;12(1):10356. Epub 2022 Jun 20.

Institute of Aquaculture, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK.

The pyrethroid deltamethrin (DTM) is used to treat Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) against salmon louse (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) infestations. However, DTM resistance has evolved in L. salmonis and is currently common in the North Atlantic. Read More

New Microbiol 2022 04;45(2):115-123

Multi-Specialist Clinical Institute for Orthopaedic Trauma Care (COT), Messina, Italy

Infectious diseases still register significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Surveillance through a mandatory notification system allows the continuous analysis of the situation even at a local level and its importance has been highlighted by the recent COVID-19 pandemic. This paper aimed to outline the importance of the mandatory notification system as a Public Health tool in the continuous monitoring of infectious diseases. Read More

Indian J Med Res 2021 06;154(6):898

Department of Ophthalmology, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, P.R. China.

Infect Dis Poverty 2022 May 26;11(1):58. Epub 2022 May 26.

Research Center for Parasites and Vectors, College of Veterinary Medicine, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, Hunan, China.

Background: Human pediculosis is caused by hematophagous lice, which are transmitted between individuals via direct and/or indirect contact. Despite the public health importance of louse infestation, information concerning the global burden of pediculosis and the epidemiological landscape of louse-borne diseases is limited. The aim of this review was to summarize the biology, epidemiology, diagnosis, and control of lice infestation in humans. Read More

Acta Trop 2022 Aug 22;232:106503. Epub 2022 May 22.

The Center for Geographic Medicine and Tropical Diseases, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan 52621, Israel; Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.

Head louse infestations caused by Pediculus humanus capitis (Phthiraptera: Pediculidae) are a public health problem in developing and developed countries worldwide. Head to head contact is by far the most common mode of lice transmission. In March 2020, WHO declared the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic. Read More

Evol Appl 2022 May 30;15(5):773-789. Epub 2022 Mar 30.

School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences University College Cork Cork Ireland.

Males and females are often subject to different and even opposing selection pressures. When a given trait has a shared genetic basis between the sexes, sexual conflict (antagonism) can arise. This can result in significant individual-level fitness consequences that might also affect population performance, whilst anthropogenic environmental change can further exacerbate maladaptation in one or both sexes driven by sexual antagonism. Read More

Sci Rep 2022 May 18;12(1):8288. Epub 2022 May 18.

Lund University, Ecology Building, Sölvegatan 37, 22362, Lund, Skåne, Sweden.

Freshwater ecosystems are under multiple threats in modern times such as water extraction for human consumption, industries and agricultural activities, water contamination and habitat destruction for example. At the same time the biodiversity of these ecosystems are often poorly studied, especially in arid countries such as Iran. In this work, we study one of the ecologically important members of Iranian freshwater fauna, freshwater crab species of the genus Potamon. Read More

Parasite Epidemiol Control 2022 Aug 2;18:e00252. Epub 2022 May 2.

Research Center for Health Sciences, Institute of Health, Department of Biology and Control of Disease Vectors, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.

Background: Human head louse, De Geer, 1767 (Anoplura: Pediculidae), is one of the most frequent ectoparasites infesting worldwide. Reduced sensitivity to treatment due to genetic mutations, in particular knockdown resistance () (or target site insensitivity) allele, has led to this infestation prevalence. Molecular characterization of this resistance has a crucial impact on selecting appropriate treatment protocol. Read More

J Investig Med High Impact Case Rep 2022 Jan-Dec;10:23247096221098339

Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, UCLA at Kern Medical Center, Bakersfield, CA, USA.

Coccidioidomycosis (CM) is a fungal infection endemic to the southwestern United States with a wide range of clinical presentations depending on the infected organ systems. Most infections are asymptomatic. Coccidioidomycosis causes a primary pulmonary infection and when symptoms occur, they most often resemble community-acquired pneumonia. Read More

NASN Sch Nurse 2022 May 12:1942602X221099282. Epub 2022 May 12.

MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC.

Pediculosis (head lice) infections are one of the more sensitive issues that may involve the school nurse. In the 3- to 11-year-old age group in the United States, head lice infections are common and can elicit anxiety in students, parents, and school personnel. Head lice do not transmit any communicable diseases and therefore exclusion from school and "no nit" policies are not warranted. Read More

Parasit Vectors 2022 May 10;15(1):131. Epub 2022 May 10.

Global Health and Tropical Medicine (GHTM), Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical (IHMT), Universidade Nova de Lisboa (NOVA), Rua da Junqueira 100, 1349-008, Lisbon, Portugal.

Background: Dipilidiosis is a parasitic disease caused by the tapeworm Dipylidium caninum. Fleas and, less frequently, lice act as an intermediate host, and their ingestion is required for infection to occur. While the disease mainly affects domestic and wild carnivores, it is also considered a zoonotic disease, with most human cases reported in children. Read More

Int J Trichology 2022 Mar-Apr;14(2):55-59. Epub 2022 Apr 4.

Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprosy and Community Medicine, Sri Manakula Vinayagar Medical College and Hospital, Puducherry, India.

Background: Pediculosis is a common ectoparasitic infestation in children. There are different treatment modalities that have been used in the treatment of pediculosis capitis from time immemorial, each with their own shortcomings. Increasing emergence of resistance to permethrin has led to the lookout for newer alternatives. Read More

J Med Entomol 2022 Apr 28. Epub 2022 Apr 28.

Centro de Investigaciones de Plagas e Insecticidas (CONICET-UNIDEF), Juan Bautista de Lasalle, 4397 (B1603ALO), Villa Martelli, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Human head lice Pediculus humanus capitis De Geer (Phthiraptera: Pediculidae) are ectoparasites that cause pediculosis, a global scale disease mainly found in school-age children. Previous works from our laboratory found nonanal, sulcatone, and geranylacetone as the main human scalp volatile components, and individually evaluated their attraction to head lice using an olfactometer. In this work, we compared how their blends at different concentrations attract head lice, and how their blended effect compares to the effect of isolated compounds. Read More

Epidemiol Mikrobiol Imunol 2022 ;71(1):21-31

Aim: Homelessness is a social, societal, economic, and health problem. The aim of the study was to describe the characteristics of hospitalized homeless persons in the Czech Republic in relation to their health status and to propose targeted measures for improvement.

Material And Methods: The study used anonymous data from the National Registry of Hospitalized Patients from 2006-2015, including the primary diagnosis at hospital admission and up to five additional diagnoses according to the 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). Read More

JAMA Dermatol 2022 Jun;158(6):691-693

Department of Dermatology, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, California.

Parasitol Res 2022 Jun 18;121(6):1597-1606. Epub 2022 Apr 18.

Department of Animal, Plant and Soil Sciences, School of Life Sciences, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, 3083, Australia.

The sheep body louse (Bovicola ovis) commonly referred to as sheep lice are small chewing ectoparasites of sheep. Infection results in significant economic costs to the Australian sheep industry due to reduced wool quality caused by chronic itching from sheep rubbing and biting fleece. Treatment relies on use of insecticides; however, resistance has developed against pyrethroid and other insect growth regulator lousicides. Read More

Zootaxa 2022 Feb 8;5094(4):501-552. Epub 2022 Feb 8.

Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, Faculty of Science, National University of Singapore, 2 Conservatory Drive, 117377, Singapore. .

The Zoological Survey of India, Western Regional Centre, Pune (ZSI-WRC) contains 1887 specimens of mostly unstudied marine brachyuran crabs. The present systematic study on the marine crabs of ZSI-WRC reports 62 species in 44 genera, 18 families and nine superfamilies. Of these, four genera and 13 species are new distributional records within India. Read More

Zootaxa 2022 Jan 7;5087(3):401-426. Epub 2022 Jan 7.

Guangdong Key Laboratory of Animal Conservation and Resource Utilization, Guangdong Public Laboratory of Wild Animal Conservation and Utilization, Institute of Zoology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, 105 Xingang West Road, Haizhu District, Guangzhou, 510260, Guangdong, China..

Three new species of chewing lice of the Penenirmus-complex (Phthiraptera: Ischnocera) are described and illustrated from woodpeckers (Picidae) and barbets (Megalaimidae) occurring in China. They are: Picophilopterus blythipici new species from Blythipicus pyrrhotis sinensis (Rickett, 1897), Laimoloima ruiliensis new genus, new species from Psilopogon asiaticus asiaticus (Latham, 1790), and Laimoloima tandani new genus, new species from Psilopogon virens virens (Boddaert, 1783). In addition, we provide illustrations of Picophilopterus pici sensu lato ex Picus canus sordidior (Rippon, 1906), and we present evidence that justifies resurrecting the genus Picophilopterus Ansari, 1947 to include the species infesting woodpeckers and Neotropical barbets (Capitonidae). Read More

Zootaxa 2022 Jan 17;5091(4):599. Epub 2022 Jan 17.

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Zootaxa 2022 Mar 1;5104(4):506-530. Epub 2022 Mar 1.

School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, 257 S. 1400 E., Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA. .

Six new species of chewing lice in the Resartor-group (Brueelia-complex) are described and illustrated. They are: Aratricerca cerata n. sp. Read More

Zootaxa 2021 Dec 8;5077(1):1151. Epub 2021 Dec 8.

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, P.O. Box 467, Wellington, New Zealand.

The species and subspecies of chewing lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera: Amblycera, Ischnocera) parasitic on Chilean birds are listed and annotated, based on records published until October 2021 and from our examination of collections. The current scientific name, its taxonomic history, data on type material, type host, other hosts, geographic distribution within Chile and elsewhere, Chilean literature references and other significant references are given for each species or subspecies of lice. A total of four families, 76 genera, and 245 species and subspecies of lice are listed, including 17 species recorded as genus only, and 31 new records of species. Read More

Cureus 2022 Feb 20;14(2):e22403. Epub 2022 Feb 20.

Pediatrics, Maternity and Children Hospital, Al-Ahsa, SAU.

Pediculosis capitis is obligate ectoparasite that lives and feeds on host blood, affecting commonly children. Lice are transmitted easily and respond to topical treatment with good personal hygiene. Chronic infestation can lead to different complications such as bacterial infection dermatitis and anaemia. Read More

Drugs Context 2022 14;11. Epub 2022 Mar 14.

Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, The Hong Kong Children's Hospital, Hong Kong.

Background: Pediculosis capitis is a common human parasitic infestation in childhood. This article aims to provide a narrative updated review on the management of pediculosis capitis.

Methods: A PubMed search was performed with Clinical Queries using the key terms "pediculosis capitis" OR "head lice" OR "head louse". Read More

Inquiry 2022 Jan-Dec;59:469580221086369

Department of Social Work, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, Bangladesh.

In many regions of the world, human head lice infestations caused by are a major health concern among school-aged children. This study was carried out to explain variables influencing pediculosis prevention and control from the perspective of parents and teachers of female elementary school pupils, as well as healthcare practitioners in Bandar Abbas, Iran. Participants in this qualitative study included 23 participants, including parents and teachers of primary school girls, as well as healthcare practitioners. Read More

JAAD Case Rep 2022 Apr 15;22:70-71. Epub 2022 Feb 15.

Discipline of Dermatology, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, Campinas State University-UNICAMP, Campinas, Brazil.

Indian J Ophthalmol 2022 Apr;70(4):1327-1330

Department of Vitreo-Retina, Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India.

Purpose: To study the clinical presentations and outcomes of phthiriasis palpebrarum (PP) managed with combined treatment modality comprising of 20% fluorescein dye, mechanical removal of the ectoparasites, and topical application of antibiotic eye ointment with paraffin base.

Methods: This is a prospective interventional noncomparative hospital-based series of 13 patients of PP. All the patients underwent local application of 20% fluorescein dye over the eyelashes and eyebrows of both the eyes followed by the mechanical removal of all the ectoparasites and trimming of the eyelashes from the base followed by application of ophthalmic ointment. Read More

J Exp Biol 2022 04 19;225(7). Epub 2022 Apr 19.

Medical Entomology Centre, Insect Research & Development Limited, Cambridge CB25 9AU, UK.

Sucking lice feed on blood and therefore ingest more water than they require for maintaining hydration. This water must be excreted; however, unlike other blood-feeding insects, they do not produce urine but do become dehydrated within hours if unable to feed. Using human clothing lice and head lice, Pediculus humanus ssp. Read More

Parasitol Res 2022 May 22;121(5):1281-1293. Epub 2022 Mar 22.

Laboratorio de Ecología de Enfermedades, Instituto de Ciencias Veterinarias del Litoral, Universidad Nacional del Litoral - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas Y Técnicas (UNL-CONICET), Esperanza, Argentina.

The haematophagous mite Ornithonyssus sylviarum may cause important economic losses in commercial poultry farms whilst also potentially affecting the health of farm workers. The dynamics of this ectoparasite has been linked to several factors, including wild birds, fomites, farm workers, management of hen houses, and host traits. Along two consecutive years, we carried out systematic sampling at three laying hen farms located in Santa Fe province, Argentina, with the aim of identifying factors that may influence O. Read More

Sci Rep 2022 03 16;12(1):4475. Epub 2022 Mar 16.

Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Center, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, P.O. Box 5667, St. John's, NL, A1C 5X1, Canada.

We used 4 years of publicly available data (2016-2019) on chemical usage at salmon sites with information on production, stocking, locations and environmental conditions to explore patterns of anti-sea lice treatments in a Canadian province. Results show that sequential chemical treatments are prevalent, emamectin benzoate (EMB) with azamethiphos being the most used combination with a decrease in ivermectin usage. Relatively high rates of usage of EMB per fish biomass may point to potential lice resistance patterns with information needed on mechanisms and local populations. Read More