5 ms·

I keep wondering how Lice will be able to hang around much after last year's social distancing, especially among children.

Joker_vD 5y ago
Are... are those still a thing in the first world?
- tpmx 5y ago
  Yes. US: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=US&q=lice https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=US&q=l... Interesting to see the graph starting to drop dramatically in early 2020 after a decade of growth/high numbers.
- detaro 5y ago
  yes
- gibspaulding 5y ago
  I read somewhere (I think Bill Bryson's "At Home") that they were almost wiped out at one point in the 20th century, but have recently started making a comeback which seems to correlate with the rise of energy saving low temp wash cycles that aren't as effective at killing them.
  - tpmx 5y ago
    Looking at the Google Trends graph I posted in the sibling comment - that would make so much sense.
  - james_pm 5y ago
    Possible the higher instances are related to the fact that schools no longer do routine screening for lice. No more school nurse and no more chopsticks checks monthly means that they have a chance to spread amongst the kids before anyone notices.
  - aqzman 5y ago
    Off topic, but Bill Bryson is such a fantastic author.
- meheleventyone 5y ago
  Rampant amongst young kids in particular. Worms as well.
- Ma8ee 5y ago
  There are sporadic outbreaks of head lice in my children’s preschool. It doesn’t seems to have change much since I was in that age myself soon fifty years ago.
- james_pm 5y ago
  Indeed they are. We battled the lice on multiple occasions with our two girls (in Canada). Pre-COVID, there was nothing we wanted to see less than a letter from the daycare or school about a lice case in the room. Lice are a pain in the butt.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- kat 5y ago
  I'm going to guess most people here had short hair while in elementary school...you're all so lucky! I've always had clean thick long blonde hair, which happens to be lice's favourite hair type. Every time there was a lice outbreak in school, I got it. Its very much a thing in Canada still.
  - Joker_vD 5y ago
    I grew up in a rural area in a second-world country, during the 90ies when the economy went from shitty to complete shit, and many people had to subsist on grazing, so to speak: I helped to plant (and then gather) potatoes, tomatoes and other vegetables in our backyard. But even then, lices were mostly something out of WW2-era stories, or something you'd get if you hanged out with local "wandering folk", I guess; I don't remember any lice cases in my school although we did have our hair checked in the elementary. Then things generally improved and life is now much better; so what about the lices? According to the 2019 statistics, there were 200 cases of headlice per 100'000 children that year. Quite a number, but not a huge one, really. So that's why I asked--if in a poor second-world country lices were almost a non-issue, then surely that means the rich first-world countries have managed to completely get rid off the lice, and much earlier, too? Right?
steverb 5y ago
I wonder if bed bug infestations also declined with less travel.
- asdff 5y ago
  The seedy airbnbs by the drinking areas have been making money hand over fist this pandemic among the "refuse to subscribe to reality" crowd, which has been empowered over the last few years.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
Nasrudith 5y ago
I thought lice were found in the environment and not human reservoirs only. Obviously sterilizing the Earth coukd technically solve it but going full War of the Worlds Martian would be a terrible idea.

Joker_vD 5y ago

Are... are those still a thing in the first world?

tpmx 5y ago
Yes. US: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=US&q=lice https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=US&q=l... Interesting to see the graph starting to drop dramatically in early 2020 after a decade of growth/high numbers.
detaro 5y ago
yes
gibspaulding 5y ago
I read somewhere (I think Bill Bryson's "At Home") that they were almost wiped out at one point in the 20th century, but have recently started making a comeback which seems to correlate with the rise of energy saving low temp wash cycles that aren't as effective at killing them.
- tpmx 5y ago
  Looking at the Google Trends graph I posted in the sibling comment - that would make so much sense.
- james_pm 5y ago
  Possible the higher instances are related to the fact that schools no longer do routine screening for lice. No more school nurse and no more chopsticks checks monthly means that they have a chance to spread amongst the kids before anyone notices.
- aqzman 5y ago
  Off topic, but Bill Bryson is such a fantastic author.
meheleventyone 5y ago
Rampant amongst young kids in particular. Worms as well.
Ma8ee 5y ago
There are sporadic outbreaks of head lice in my children’s preschool. It doesn’t seems to have change much since I was in that age myself soon fifty years ago.
james_pm 5y ago
Indeed they are. We battled the lice on multiple occasions with our two girls (in Canada). Pre-COVID, there was nothing we wanted to see less than a letter from the daycare or school about a lice case in the room. Lice are a pain in the butt.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
kat 5y ago
I'm going to guess most people here had short hair while in elementary school...you're all so lucky! I've always had clean thick long blonde hair, which happens to be lice's favourite hair type. Every time there was a lice outbreak in school, I got it. Its very much a thing in Canada still.
- Joker_vD 5y ago
  I grew up in a rural area in a second-world country, during the 90ies when the economy went from shitty to complete shit, and many people had to subsist on grazing, so to speak: I helped to plant (and then gather) potatoes, tomatoes and other vegetables in our backyard. But even then, lices were mostly something out of WW2-era stories, or something you'd get if you hanged out with local "wandering folk", I guess; I don't remember any lice cases in my school although we did have our hair checked in the elementary. Then things generally improved and life is now much better; so what about the lices? According to the 2019 statistics, there were 200 cases of headlice per 100'000 children that year. Quite a number, but not a huge one, really. So that's why I asked--if in a poor second-world country lices were almost a non-issue, then surely that means the rich first-world countries have managed to completely get rid off the lice, and much earlier, too? Right?

steverb 5y ago

I wonder if bed bug infestations also declined with less travel.

asdff 5y ago
The seedy airbnbs by the drinking areas have been making money hand over fist this pandemic among the "refuse to subscribe to reality" crowd, which has been empowered over the last few years.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

Nasrudith 5y ago

I thought lice were found in the environment and not human reservoirs only. Obviously sterilizing the Earth coukd technically solve it but going full War of the Worlds Martian would be a terrible idea.