Letter Re: Dealing with Uninvited Guests

Mr. Rawles
I have been a faithful reader for about a year now and would like to take this opportunity to thank you and your contributors for the wealth of information found on this site. I would also like to thank Anon T. for his article on quarantine procedures, though I'm wondering if it should be expanded to include "debugging". I'm referring to head lice, body lice, crabs, bedbugs, mites, and fleas. Nobody wants to believe that it will happen to them. It doesn't even have to be a WTSHTF scenario. In today's economic environment many people are loosing their homes and moving in with family or friends. With more and more people and their belongings under one roof, personal and residential cleanliness may begin to suffer. In a SHTF scenario, add to this stressful situation, not being able to properly bathe, wash hair, clothing, and bedding as often as they should, and the possibility of "unwanted house guests" rises.

About 8 years ago, my then two-year-old brought head lice home from day care. Before I realized it, I was also beset by lice. My mom said "getting lice isn't a sin, keeping them is." But getting rid of these little bugs was just short of impossible. As soon as you think they're gone a nit that you missed hatches, and it starts all over.
Hopefully this won't be a problem for most of your readers, but they should be prepared and informed.
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Treatment products like "Rid" won't be easily rotated before they expire, so it may be cost-prohibitive to stock it. are there any natural or more cost affective alternatives? I'm wondering how we will deal with this in the future when products like "Rid" might not be available. and maybe someone out there could explain identification and treatment for those readers who have never been through this. - J.C.M.

JWR Replies: I agree that it is wise to stock up on anti-parasiticals (pediculicides and scabicides ) The active ingredients in Rid and Lindane ("Kwell") can be effective for several years. Most of the Rid variants are a 0.5% solution of Permethrin. The Lindane solutions (typically 1%) are sold under trade names such as BBH, Bio-Well, G-well, Kildane, Kwell, Kwildane, Scabene, and Thionex. Some traditional treatments for lice that were used in the 19th Century and early 20th Century might still be viable, but most of them are harsh an potentially toxic, so they should be considered only in absolute worst case disasters, when modern anti-parasiticals are unavailable. The 1996 article titled Control of Human Lice Infestations: Past and Present (in PDF) from American Entomologist provides some interesting history on lice control, including some lousy methods from the 19th Century. It might sound severe, but when modern anti-parisiticals can't be found, head shaving is a good starting point. (But it will give you the Sinead O'Connor "I'll never be accused of being infested" look.)