The spread of the super-strength lice hitting schools in the new term doesn't have to be an issue compared to antibiotic resistance. Parents need to stop using treatments which can be damaging to their child's health and ineffective at killing lice.

We have treatments on the market that contain no toxic chemicals and work instead by the process of anoxia. Anoxia works by cutting off the lice and eggs oxygen supply and stops them from expelling gases they need to release as waste to survive. It is challenging/near impossible to drown a louse in water with the average surviving for up to 8 hours and some still surviving after 14 hours immersion. As reported studies published by the NCBI indicate. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5844234/

In contrast, they also say studies using dimethicone results in penetration through the spiracles and spreading to the entire respiratory system within 30 minutes, leading to death in 100% of the lice. Dimethicone is pure mineral oil with no toxic additives, and it has the bonus of proving to be hypoallergenic and not absorbed by the skin. Studies on the safety of dimethicone papers published by BMC pediatric https://bmcpediatr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12887-015-0381-0

On Wednesday 28th August in the Sun newspaper, head lice expert Ian Burgess, of Insect Research & Development Limited, said when Lyclear Creme Rinse hit the market it "swept the board".

However he warned, it leaves insecticide in a sufferer's hair.

While that may sound an appealing prevention measure, he said the bugs have slowly learned biologically to cope with it.

Research by the Journal of Medical Entomology (JME) revealed that 98 per cent of head lice are now resistant to conventional treatments.

The 2016 study of 48 US states found that head lice were able to grow gene mutations, which helped them resist insecticides, also known as pyrethrins, pyrethroids, and permethrins.

Professor Craig Williams, of the University of South Australia, has been researching ways to outwit nits.

Speaking to 7NEWS, he said: "Super lice would be the name we would give to lice that have become resistant to some of the treatments to kill them."

He likened the spread of the super-strength lice to antibiotic resistance - the more we use insecticides, the bigger the problem becomes.

As such treatments containing insecticides should be avoided, and parents should opt to use a product that works by anoxia instead such as NitNOT anti-head lice serum. NitNOT is a100% dimethicone solution, which quickly kills lice, super lice and eggs without the associated risks of chemical treatments. Kinder on the skin with none of the related chances of causing skin irritation, and more effective than combing. There are two significant issues with keeping to solely using the combing method. One is that it takes at least a month to clear an infestation, giving lice plenty of time to spread to other heads. Two is that it is easy to think you have broken the cycle when you haven't. If you miss just a few tiny eggs, or only one female louse you can find yourself with a re-infestation a couple of months down the line. Parents think their children are catching lice from friends when, in fact, they never broke the cycle.