When Nancy Ripton noticed white specks on her scalp, she picked up some dandruff shampoo and figured, OK, problem solved. But then she got the dreaded note from school?there was a lice outbreak in her son Bode?s junior kindergarten class. ?Practically our whole family had it,? says the mother of three. An over-the-counter chemical delousing shampoo coupled with carefully combing to remove all the eggs did the trick. But the next year, both her boys, Bode, 7, and Beckett, 5, came home with head lice again. This time, she couldn?t get rid of the bugs.
Ripton isn?t the only parent noticing lice are getting harder to beat. A recently published study in the Journal of Medical Entomology examining lice from 2007 to 2009 shows these tiny pests are becoming increasingly resistant to pyrethrins and pyrethroids, the insecticides commonly found in anti-lice products. These ?super lice? now make up 97 percent of head lice cases in Canada. ?Lice have evolved, like all nature does,? says Dawn Mucci, founder of the Lice Squad in Innisville, Ont. But fear not?here?s how to tackle these creepy critters: 1. Keep it to yourself

According to Henry Ukpeh, a paediatrician in Trail, BC, the best defense against lice is to avoid head-to-head contact and sharing things like brushes or hats. He also suggests cutting kids? hair shorter, or keeping long hair tied back in braids or ponytails, because lice move between people by crawling onto hair.
2. Treat it

Skip the chemicals and opt for products ...