Cleaning up with lice treatments

Concerns about toxins fuel alternate approaches

May 27, 2011|By Jenifer B. McKim, Globe Staff

At NitWits Cambridge office, Lisa Esparza worked on a 5-year-old who had… (Essdras M Suarez/Globe Staff)

Creepy and gross. That’s how some people might describe Berit Pratt’s business. And no wonder. Her five professional nitpickers spend their days combing tiny blood-sucking lice and nits — bugs’ egg sacks — from people’s heads, earning about $200 for each scalp they delouse.

It’s a price more people, usually panicked parents, are willing to pay. Pratt, 56, said her Cambridge company, NitWits, has doubled its number of clients over the past year.

She says she has come to understand the insects that once terrified her as a school nurse. “You have to have some kind of tolerance for the yuck factor,’’ said Pratt, whose company treats about six heads a day.

NitWits is one of an increasing number of area companies that specialize in offering nontoxic treatments for head lice. They have quirky names like Lice Aunties and Desperate Lousewives, and charge hefty fees — about $100 an hour — for house calls or camp visits. Their popularity is being spurred by health-conscious parents who are shunning traditional treatments — including dousing children with chemicals — and turning to alternatives that usually involve the manual removal of lice and nits.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that between 6 million and 12 million children ages 3 to 11 suffer from lice. The problem may be getting worse, health specialists say, because the parasitic insects have become resistant to certain over-the-counter chemical-laced shampoos recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and other health agencies.

“Some of the products that worked in the past are not as effective,’’ said William Brogdon, a research entomologist with the CDC.

The wingless bugs aren’t known to carry diseases that affect humans, but their saliva and feces can cause itching, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Lice can’t fly or jump and are spread from head to head mostly through direct contact, likely to affect children who spend time in close contact. They live only a day or two off a human scalp, according to the CDC.

Public health concerns about chemical treatments to kill lice have been around for decades. The Newton-based National Pediculosis Association (pediculosis is the scientific word for lice infestation) was launched in 1983 to protect children from the “misuse and abuse of potentially harmful’’ chemical-laced treatments.

In 2009, the Food and Drug Administration warned that shampoos made with the chemical Lindane can cause seizures and even death, especially among children and babies. Despite the concerns, prescription-only treatments containing Lindane remain available in most of the country. The FDA says the treatments should be used only when other products are ineffective.