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Thieves who allegedly looted a 2,000-year-old lice comb from a desert cave were caught red-handed by Israeli rescue teams out on a routine drill near the Dead Sea.

Officials said the gang targeted a site called the Cave of the Skulls, halfway down a towering cliff face in Israel’s Judean Desert.

They worked with lights, digging tools and metal detectors and they would have been hoping to find ancient texts and other artefacts left in the caves by Jewish rebels back in the days of the Roman Empire.

But the alleged thieves were arrested as they climbed back up the cliff.

The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said the thieves were detected by a rescue unit during a routine training drill.

Among the loot they hoped to sell was a 2,000- year-old comb that was used to remove lice from people’s hair.

Court documents identified the suspects as six residents of the West Bank village of Seir, near the city of Hebron, according to local online newspaper The Times of Israel.

The IAA said the bust was the first of its kind in 30 years.

“Over the years many of the plundered finds reached the antiquities markets in Israel and abroad, but it has been decades since perpetrators were caught red-handed,” said Amir Ganor, director of the IAA’s unit for prevention of antiquities robbery.

“This is mainly due to the difficultly in detecting and catching them on the wild desert cliffs.”

First Published on: December 08, 2014 09:16:41

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-08/gang-of-theives-arrested-for-looting-cave-of-skulls-in-israel/5950292

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Many parents, desperate to get rid of a case of lice crawling around in their child’s hair, will dash out to the pharmacy to buy Nix or Rid, the most widely sold lice-control products in an estimated $130 million over-the-counter market.

There’s a reason those chemical products are so popular. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on their websites recommend using those pesticides, as well as even stronger prescription-only products, to get rid of the nasty insects. Says you should physically remove them instead.

“There’s no reason for parents to douse their children’s heads in chemicals,” says Urvashi Rangan, Ph.D., director of consumer safety and sustainability for Consumer Reports. “Physically removing lice, while it seems daunting, is safest for your child’s head.”

The over-the-counter products are losing their fight against lice because studies suggest that most of the bugs in the U.S. have evolved to become genetically resistant to the insecticides found in those products. That includes pyrethrum in shampoos such as Rid and the permethrin in creme rinses such as Nix. Pyrethrum is a naturally occurring pyrethroid extract from the chrysanthemum flower, and permethrin is a synthetic form of that drug. Products with those ingredients have been available to consumers for decades.

A study published in the March 2014 issue of the Journal of Medical Entomology found that 99 percent of the head lice collected by school nurses and professional lice combers in 12 states and three Canadian provinces were genetically resistant to permethrin. “It’s not surprising that we are seeing a resistance to these products,” Rangan says. “That’s what happens with insecticides and pests over time.”

Find the best way to stop bug bites with our review of insect repellents.

And despite the label claims, pyrethrum and pyrethroid-based products have only a marginal ability to kill the eggs that remain attached to the hair shaft after treatment. “They can’t be relied on to kill all lice eggs,” says Michael Hansen, Ph.D., a senior scientist at Consumer Reports. When the makers of Nix were asked for the evidence to support the claim that Nix “kills lice and their eggs,” a lawyer for the company said its labeling is scrutinized by the Food and Drug Administration, but the content behind it is considered “proprietary and confidential.”

Lice are sesame-seed-size wingless insects that feed on human blood. They don’t transmit disease, but their bites cause intense itching, which can lead to sores and possible secondary infections. Lice can crawl from one head to another in seconds when children touch their heads together during play or when they share combs or hats. The affliction is now second only to the common cold when it comes to conditions that affect elementary-school students in North America. The U.S. has 6 million to 12 million cases a year among children 3 to 11 years old.

So what is a parent to do? First, don’t panic, and don’t be mortified. “Anyone can get lice,” Rangan says, including the parents of the children who bring them home. In the U.S., African-Americans are less likely to get head lice because North American lice can’t get a good grip on the tightly curled oval hair shafts common in African-American hair.

If you get a warning letter that lice have been discovered at your child’s camp or school, inspect your child right away. A female louse (singular for lice) can lay five to six tiny pearl-colored eggs, or nits, a day near the base of a hair shaft, especially behind the ears or at the back of the neck, and before you know it a few generations could be living on your child’s head if you ignore the problem.

But a child with a first case of head lice may not notice anything for four to six weeks. That’s generally how long it takes for the immune system to develop sensitivity to louse saliva. There’s a chance that the itching could be caused by eczema, dandruff, or an allergy. But if it is a case of lice, it will not clear up on its own.

Here’s what Consumer Reports’ experts recommend.

1. Look for live bugs:

Use a metal nit comb—not plastic—that is thin-toothed and finely spaced. Combing your child’s hair with conditioner or another lubricant, such as olive oil (wet-combing), is much better than just looking for the bugs on your child’s head, according to a study in the March 2009 Archives of Dermatology.

German researchers compared the two methods on 304 students, ages 6 to 12. They found that wet- combing identified infestations in 91 percent of the cases, compared with about 29 percent for visual inspections on dry hair. “Wet combing is the only useful method if active infestation has to be ruled out,” researchers wrote.

Make sure you work in bright light; during the summer you can do this outside on a sunny day. Otherwise, use a bright lamp. To wet comb, first coat your child’s hair and scalp with conditioner or another lubricant. Use a wide-tooth comb to separate hair into very small sections. Follow with a metal nit comb—not plastic—that is thin-toothed and finely spaced (you can also use a flea comb, available at most drug stores), concentrating on very small sections closest to the scalp.

After each comb-through, move the section over, wipe the comb on a paper towel, and inspect for lice. Seal the paper towels in a resealable plastic bag and dispose. Remember to clean combs in very hot, soapy water.

2. If you find any lice, comb and comb and comb

Consumer Reports’ experts say the safest method of getting rid of lice is to physically remove the insects and their eggs by combing with a lubricant such as a hair conditioner. “The chemicals on the market don’t kill 100 percent of the eggs, most pose some level of risk, like itchy eyes or chemical burns or seizures, and they are unnecessary in most cases compared with physical removal,” Hansen says. The key, he says, is to continue to comb out your child’s hair every day until no live lice are seen and then every few days for about a month.

A study of two “bug busting” campaigns in the United Kingdom showed that persistence pays off: All lice were eradicated when combing-out treatments were extended from 14 days to 24 days.

3. Consider smothering the bugs

Studies suggest these products are somewhat effective at killing lice.

Some products containing dimeticone (aka dimeticone) or natrum muriaticum (aka sodium chloride or table salt) have emerged on the market claiming to eliminate all lice and their eggs in minutes. One popular product containing dimeticone is LiceMD, a liquid gel applied to dry hair, which works by smothering live lice. The other ingredient, natrum muriaticum, dries out live lice. It’s contained in a hair mousse sold as Vamousse and in a spray called Licefreee Spray, which are also applied to dry hair.

While Consumer Reports did not test those products, several studies indicate they are somewhat effective at killing lice. Lice won’t develop a resistance to those ingredients because the insects are killed by a physical—rather than chemical—process. But dimeticone products don’t kill all the eggs that the lice lay, despite what the labels say, according to a study in the April 2011 Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.*

So you still need to comb out hair daily. And make sure you use a metal comb: Vamousse and Licefreee provide one in the box, but plastic ones, such as the one in the LiceMD box, tend to break.

Coating the hair with homemade remedies such as olive oil, mayonnaise, and petroleum jelly may also help to suffocate some lice, especially if left on overnight under a shower cap, though those methods haven’t been proved. But they do make it easier to comb through hair to remove nits, which is the essential step. And you may want to pass on petroleum jelly, which is very difficult to wash out.

Dangerous products such as gasoline, kerosene, or products that are made for use on animals kill or maim a few children each year when the volatile fumes accidentally ignite. Even if they were effective lice killers (they are not) they should never be tried

4. Skip the chemical products

Over-the-counter chemical treatments have become less effective over the years. As a general rule, younger children have thinner skin, making them more susceptible to chemical absorption, and they are more vulnerable to the side effects of pesticides.

As noted above, over-the-counter chemical treatments such as Rid and Nix ($20 each) have become less and less effective over the years as the bugs have evolved to become more resistant to them. And they are marginal at best when it comes to killing lice eggs. Possible side effects of using them include red, itchy, and inflamed skin or difficulty breathing, which may be problematic for people with asthma. The products shouldn’t be used near cats because felines are especially sensitive to this class of drug.

Prescription treatments come with a range of risks or side effects, and the drugs can be expensive. In 2011 the Food and Drug Administration approved a new drug called spinosad (Natroba), a topical treatment for use in children ages 4 and up, that was found to be more effective in killing lice than permethrin, according to two manufacturer-sponsored studies. And it claims to kill lice eggs. Possible side effects were minimal, including skin and eye redness or irritation. But its long-term safety is still under study, and it costs $280 for 4 ounces.

Other prescriptions include:

Benzyl alcohol (Ulesfia): (About $140 for 7.7 ounces) A topical lotion for children 6 months old and older (the safety for people over 60 is not established). It claims to kill live lice but not their eggs. Possible side effects include skin or eye itching, redness, and irritation.

Citronellyl acetate (Lycelle): (About $190 for 3.4 ounces) A topical gel for children 2 and up and people under age 60. It claims to kill live lice and some eggs, but not all. Possible side effects include skin or eye itching, redness, stinging, irritation, and burning.

Ivermectin (Sklice): (About $300 for 4 ounces) A topical lotion for children 6 months and older and people under age 65. It claims to kill live lice but not their eggs. Possible side effects include conjunctivitis, eye irritation, dandruff, dry skin, and a burning sensation on the skin.

Lindane: (About $120 for 2 ounces) This topical lotion is banned in California, and Consumers Union petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to outlaw this neurotoxic, possibly carcinogenic pesticide as a lice treatment in the early 1980s. But it’s still on the market as a prescription drug for lice despite reports of seizures and even deaths from improper use. And it’s the only lice treatment that carries a black-box warning (the worst kind).

Malathion: ($210, generic, and $255, Ovide, for 2 ounces) A topical lotion for children 6 and older. This drug is flammable, so any source of heat, such as a hair dryer, could cause your child’s hair to go up in flames. Possible side effects include second-degree chemical burns. Accidental contact with eyes can result in a mild form of conjunctivitis.

5. Prevent it from spreading

If your child has head lice, all household members and close contacts should be checked and treated if necessary. Also tell your child’s teacher, who can then advise other parents to check their children’s hair and treat them if necessary.

6. Don’t waste your money on shielding shampoos

Katie’s note: I don’t agree with the header “Don’t waste your money on shielding shampoos”. While Lice Shield and other products may have falsely advertised, other products such as the ones we recommend, have been clinically proven to help prevent head lice. Products just need to be properly tested before making claims.

Parents eager to prevent their children from bringing home lice may be tempted to buy a shampoo or spray called Lice Shield, which claims it can prevent or reduce the risk of getting head lice. But the Federal Trade Commission charged its maker, Lornamead, with false advertising in May.

The products and ads for it claimed that citronella and other essential oils used in the Lice Shield line would “dramatically reduce” the risk of head lice infestations, the FTC said. The company claimed that its products, sold at CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens, WalMart, and other stores, were “scientifically shown to repel head lice.” But it doesn’t have a well-controlled human clinical study to support that claim.

As a result, Lornamead must shell out $500,000 as part of the settlement and is banned from making any similar claims in the future. “As any parent knows, an outbreak of lice can wreak havoc,” said Jessica Rich, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “When marketers say their products can be used to avoid these pests, they’d better make sure they can back up their claims.”

First Published on: September 08, 2014 06:00 AM

Source: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2014/09/to-get-rid-of-head-lice-comb-them-out-instead-of-using-nix-rid-or-other- chemicals/index.htm

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The mother of 5-year-old Rose Kelley, whose daughter died from liver failure and neglect in her lice-infested home, could soon be out of prison. The Michigan Parole Board has delayed a decision on parole for Michelle Bowen, 33, as she completes a treatment program a possible precursor to her release.

The 5-year-old girl was found dead inside her home on Flint’s east side after a 911 call from her parents, Michelle Bowen and Jeffrey Kelley, on June 3, 2006. The brown-haired, blue eyed girl weighed just 35 pounds when she died in a house infested with lice and strewn with trash and dog feces.

An emergency room physician noted three surviving children in the home were unkempt, “dirty” and had hair infested with “incredible amount(s) of head lice.” A Genesee County Department of Human Services caseworker called filth in the house “indescribable.”

The Oakland County medical examiner ruled Rose’s death a homicide, saying she died from liver failure compounded by neglect. Court records indicate she had been sick for days in advance of her death, and too weak to stand, but was never taken to a doctor.

Bowen and Jeffrey Kelley pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter in the case and were sentenced by Genesee Probate Judge Robert E. Weiss to 17 months to 15 years in prison.

“Her spirits are up. She wants to come home,” said Richard Bowen, Michelle Bowen’s father. “We’re almost counting on it.” Jeffrey Kelley, Bowen’s former fiance and Rose’s father, was already denied parole in January and won’t be considered again until mid-2009.

But Bowen’s case is on hold and her freedom still under consideration, said Russ Marlin, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections. For some, Bowen’s possible release, less than two years after her daughter died, comes as a shock following a child death that made headlines around the state.

Officials said the tragedy could have been avoided if Rose Kelley’s parents had only taken her to the doctor. Police investigating the case said Bowen told them she knew her daughter was sick for days but never took her to the doctor because she feared losing all of her children once authorities discovered conditions in the home. A sister of Jeffrey Kelley said Friday that Bowen hasn’t been in prison long enough.

“For something like this, I don’t feel like the time she’s served” is enough, said Marva Crow. “If my brother is going to sit behind bars, she should too.”

Bowen and Kelley, 35, were sentenced by Genesee Probate Judge Robert E. Weiss after pleading no contest to involuntary manslaughter late in 2006.

At the time, Weiss called them negligent partners in their daughter’s death “both equally to blame” and sentenced the pair to identical prison terms 17 months to 15 years in prison.

This year’s parole hearings are the first for both. Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton would not comment on what the Parole Board has done with Kelley or might do with Bowen. In cases like theirs, a three-member panel of the 10-member Parole Board decides whether a prisoner should be released by a majority vote. Factors considered by the board include current the offense, prior criminal record, institutional behavior, information from a prisoner interview, and information details from victims and other sources. “The Parole Board makes those calls,” Leyton said. “We don’t appear in front of it” in cases like this.

The prosecutor said the possible release of Bowen shows that Michigan sentencing guidelines are lower than people believe. “It’s not that easy to get sent to prison … (and) the sentences (end up) a lot shorter than people believe,” he said.

Michelle Bowen said at her sentencing that she was over-whelmed “losing my mind” at the time of her daughter’s death. She worked full time at Chuck E. Cheese, but didn’t make enough to support her family and struggled in dealing with her children’s serious health problems. She, Kelley, and their families have since lost contact with her three other children who were placed in foster care.

The couple agreed to give up their parental rights to those children as a part of their plea deal with prosecutors. “I not only lost my granddaughter, I lost my other grandchildren, and I’ve lost my own daughter for some time,” Richard Bowen said. “I ain’t seen my grandkids since, and we have no rights to see them.”

Richard Bowen said his daughter has done what she has been asked to do since reporting to prison. He continues to contend the state Department of Human Services had a role in Rose Kelley’s death, but said his daughter and Kelley deserve most of the blame. State caseworkers had contact with the family dating back to 1998 and received complaints that the children were living in filth and sometimes going without food.

The Original Reports

The people who were supposed to look out for Rose Kelley got repeated warnings about what they eventually called “indescribable” filth inside her family’s eastside home, according to state documents. After each contact, Jeffrey Kelley and Michelle Bowen cleaned up their home and children enough to pass a follow-up visit or were referred to parenting classes or other help.

A 2007 Flint Journal article showed the agency knew of repeated hygiene, lice and other problems and received five complaints about unsanitary conditions in the Bowen-Kelley home, according to its own records. DHS was cleared of any wrongdoing in its handling of the case by the state Office of Family Advocate and the Office of Children’s Ombudsman.

First Published on: March 22, 2008 21:29PM

Source: http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2008/03/mother_of_flint_girl_who_died.html

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A Laurel County woman has been arrested after police say they found her intoxicated at a home with two young children who were not being properly fed and taken care of. 41-year-old Vicki Johnson told deputies who came to her home on US 25 South that she had taken hydrocodone and had been drinking throughout the day.

Officials said they found a 6-year-old sleeping on a hard box spring mattress with several pill bottles in arms-reach. The child also had Head lice, officials said. A 10-month-old was also found in the home, in a mobile baby crib wearing a diaper that had not been changed in a long period of time, officials said. The toddler was found with a bottle containing clabbered milk.

There wasn’t any food for the children to eat inside the house, officials said, and one child told deputies they had some pudding earlier in the day. According to officials, the house extremely cluttered with trash, old cigarette butts and ashes scattered throughout. Johnson is charged with wanton endangerment second, criminal abuse of a child third degree, and DUI.

First Published on: Dec 11, 2014 10:25 AM EST

Source: http://www.lex18.com/story/27604833/woman-found-intoxicated-in-home-with-children-not-properly-fed

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Two girls who were infested with head lice and taken into care over severe neglect were among several harrowing cases in the latest volume of reports from the Child Care Law Reporting Project. The District Court heard that the lice were so bad on one of the girls that it looked like the child’s whole head was moving.

“I could see spider-like creatures moving, I could see hundreds of them moving down her neck,” her school principal said, adding that she had an inch-long scab on the back of her neck. “She was very aware that she was not the way she should be, she was very embarrassed. I tried to reassure her.” Other children avoided her at school, the principal said, adding that her older sister – whose Head lice was not so bad – was also socially isolated and tried to look after her younger sibling.

The court was told that the girls’ mother was a heroin addict who attended a methadone clinic since the late 90s. Their father did not attend the hearing but consented to a full care order for the girls. In another case, three children in their early and mid-teens escaped from their home and sought help. The children, who were home-schooled and not allowed to leave their home, experienced emotional and physical abuse. Their father rarely visited them and there were allegations of sexual abuse against their mother.

She herself spent most of her time in her room and used a bucket as a toilet, which her son had to empty. She beat an older child – who previously left the family home – telling the other children that she was “beating the white devil” out of her.

The three other children escaped the house and sought help from a neighbour who called gardai. There was no answer when officers went to their home but the mother later visited the station and was irate and abusive with no apparent interest in the children’s welfare, gardai told the court. A sergeant later visited the house and it emerged that the mother had been before the courts 16 times before 2000 for non-attendance at school by some of her children. Their father failed to be a protective factor and did not propose that the children live with him and a full care order was granted for the three children.

First Published on: 05 JANUARY 2015 03:00 AM

Source: http://www.herald.ie/news/courts/childs-head-looked-like-it-was-moving-with-lice-court-told-30882792.html

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They were just trying to save his hair.

But what started as a desire to preserve Koran Akindele Jenkin’s dreadlocks, grown during his 13-year life, ended in tragedy and changed the Berkeley boy’s world forever.

Koran had picked up Head lice in his thick, black shoulder-length dreads during a backyard campout with a group of friends. The eighth grader had never in his life had a haircut. He loved his hair. His mother loved his hair. Koran, a member of a hip-hop group, needed the hair to complete his look.

But as the critters hopped around in Koran’s locks, mother and son became increasingly repulsed and headed for the boy’s pediatrician. The doctor was out.

They drove to Alta Bates hospital, where medical staff covered Koran’s head with a surgical cap and instantly diagnosed him with head lice, his mother said.

Medical staff talked of a prescription medicine, but because there are dangers, it was not prescribed. Then the conversation turned to how gasoline and kerosene are used to clean the hair and kill head lice in some cultures where dreads are more common, his mother, Ayodele Nzinga, said.

In the end, medical staff told Koran to get a haircut so over-the-counter treatments could readily attack the lice. “We discussed cutting his hair,” said Nzinga. “He was in tears, I was in tears. We didn’t want to cut his hair. So we remembered that we had some gas in the car (trunk) for emergencies. We figured we would clean (the hair) with gas and then use the medication.”

That was Sept. 18. At home in Berkeley, mother and son headed to the kitchen with the gas. Bent over the sink, Nzinga covered her son’s eyes and face with a towel and soaked the hair in gas. It’s a compact kitchen and the sink and the gas stove are tucked in the small space.

Nzinga said nothing was on in the kitchen, but somehow the pilot light on the stove flared, sending enough of a spark to set Koran’s head ablaze.

“One minute I was twisting the gasoline out of his locks and the next minute my baby was on fire,” said Nzinga, a single mother who has seven children ages 12 to 26.

Nzinga said she couldn’t move quickly enough. “If I could have remembered what to do quicker maybe he wouldn’t have been burned so badly,” she said, tears streaming down her face.

Water wasn’t working to douse the flames so Nzinga grabbed a towel that was on the nearby washing machine and wrapped his head in it. “I brought him to my (chest) and smothered the fire out,” she said.

From that moment forward Koran’s life was forever altered, family and friends said. He was burned over 23 percent of his body and spent two weeks at Doctor’s Hospital in Pinole and two months at Shriner’s Hospital For Children in Sacramento. He underwent eight surgeries, including many skin grafts.

His right hand, which sustained fourth-degree burns, was so badly damaged doctors had to amputate all his fingers. Nzinga, with third-degree burns to her left hand and second-degree burns to her right hand, was also admitted to Doctor’s Hospital, she said. Her hand is still badly discolored and she has some pain. Looking back, Nzinga said her boy was amazingly strong from the minute the accident happened. “He said, ‘We are going to be OK, Mama,'” she recalled. “I think he was possibly in shock too, but there are two ways to deal with extreme trauma ? fight or flight. You can either stay coherent and fight on your own behalf or you can become hysterical.”

The past three months have undoubtedly been the most difficult in Koran’s short life, his mother and brother said. The home-schooled teenager went from a star on the basketball court who had interests in photography, drama, poetry and hip-hop music to a boy who sometimes needs his younger brother’s help to get dressed.

“He’s just angry right now because some of the stuff he could do before he can’t do anymore,” said brother Stanley Hunt, 12. Adds Koran: “I was very good at basketball. … I’m not sure I’ll be able to play basketball again.” Still, Nzinga said doctors are pleased with his progress. “They said he’s doing amazingly well … he’s going to have to have a lot more surgery,” she said.

His care is time consuming and has often kept Nzinga from her job as an artist-in-residence at the Prescott Joseph Center for Community Enhancement in West Oakland.

In addition to his medications and the twice-daily dressing changes, Koran must wear a plastic face mask for protection and pressure garments for healing. He is required to go to Shriners once a month and visits his own pediatrician at least twice a month.

Nzinga, a community activist, artist and poet, has been working toward a doctorate degree in transformative education and change to better her life. She said she is doing her best to make ends meet, but sometimes it’s tough.

Thanks to contacts with Camp Winnarainbow, Wavy Gravy’s Berkeley-based performance arts camp, friends will hold a benefit Sunday night to raise money for the family. Koran has attended the camp since he was 7.

The benefit begins at 7:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. Organizers are asking for a $10 to $20 donation to see many performers.

“I’ve never done something like this before,” said organizer Zappo Dickinson, who stayed at Koran’s bedside when Nzinga couldn’t be there. “I’m just hoping for it to be successful and a fun-filled night.” Nzinga is nearly speechless when she counts the people who have come to her aid.

“When as many people come to your rescue as came to mine, you know someone is listening,” she said.

But she said she is also grateful for the lessons that she and Koran have learned through the tragedy. “We learned not to use (gasoline) in a closed space,” she said. “And we truly know the essence of an accident. It’s something you didn’t think out because if you did, you wouldn’t have done it.”

Maybe most importantly, she and Koran have learned acceptance, she said. “We have learned the ability to accept what the universe gives you and to fight really hard for that to be enough.”

First Published on: January 3, 2004

Source: OaklandTribune.com

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It’s not how a North Valley family wanted to spend their Christmas – but they had to spend part of the holiday at the hospital after their 8-year-old was badly burned in an accident.

It happened while they were treating the girl for Head lice.

Merced County firefighters say family members in Atwater were putting medicine on the girl’s head, but they were near a lit candle, and the vapors from the medication sparked, and caught fire.

The girl was hurt pretty bad – she has second and third degree burns on her face, chest, and back.

She was flown to the burn center in Fresno.

Her father was also burned, but did not need to be treated at the hospital.

First Published on: Dec 25, 2012 2:14 AM EST

Source: http://www.kmph-kfre.com/story/20420802/girl-badly-burned-while-being-treated-for-lice

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A teenager suffered horrific burns when he accidentally set fire to his hair after using a new Head lice lotion.

Fifteen-year-old Matthew Moore’s mother Lesley applied the lotion at their home in Purbeck.

Matthew then went to his room and played with a cigarette lighter, which ignited his hair and resulted in severe burns to his face, ears, neck and arms. Mrs. Moore said: “He was holding the lighter at arm’s length and it must have caught his fringe. The instructions on the packaging for the lotion said nothing about it being flammable.” Fire services and paramedics were quickly on the scene.

Matthew was transferred to the burns unit of Salisbury Hospital.

Doctors are still waiting for the swelling to subside but fear he will have to undergo multiple skin grafts. “The fire brigade said he was lucky he was wearing his glasses,” said Mrs. Moore. “If he hadn’t been, he could have lost his sight.” The fire service took away the lotion following the incident on April 10 and ran tests on it. Poole fire station manager Keith Barnes said: “The lotion contains an agent that could be combustible.

“We have contacted the manufacturers and asked them to think about altering their labeling to make this known.”

The agent is silicon-based and can also be found in cosmetics products. Mr. Barnes said: “The general public should be aware that cosmetics and hair care products can contain this type of chemical, and that after applying them they should stay away from any kind of naked flame.”

Hedrin is a new lotion that can be bought over the counter and has been touted as an advanced alternative to traditional lotions. It is virtually odorless and is said to suffocate lice rather than kill them with pesticide.

The lotion’s manufacturer, Huddersfield-based Thornton and Ross Ltd, released a statement saying that Hedrin would not be classified as hazardous on any regulatory scale, as it has a flash point of 77C.

Chemical materials are only considered flammable if they have a flash point under 55C, and as a licensed medicine Hedrin is exempt from these regulations in any case. The statement also said: “All the company’s products are labeled in accordance with all appropriate legal requirements, and we do not believe there is any issue with the labeling of Hedrin.

“As a licensed medicine the labeling is also assessed by the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Authority.”

“We are concerned about the incident and would invite the customer to contact us directly so we can carry out a full investigation.”

First Published on: Friday 20 April 2007

Source: http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/1342538.hair_oil_burns_horror/

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A Russian karate expert has been charged with beating to death a 61-year-old woman and her son, whom he accused of infecting his wife with lice, an investigator said Friday.

The drunk 26-year-old burst into a neighboring room in his hostel Tuesday and used karate moves to kill the pair, state investigator Eduard Abdullin said by telephone from Kazan, a city 700 km (430 miles) east of Moscow.

“He literally beat them to death with his hands and feet,” Abdullin said. “The family was poor and drank a lot. He blamed them for infecting his wife and the entire corridor with lice.”

The 58-year-old husband of the dead woman was also badly beaten, but survived. The suspect, who studied karate for seven years, faces life in prison if convicted, Abdullin added.

First Published on: April 10, 2009

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/04/10/us-murder-idUSTRE53923G20090410

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Two women in the town of Okulovka in northwestern Russia’s Novgorod Region are charged with killing their female friend on suspicion that she was the source of their lice infestation, the Investigative Committee’s regional department reported on Tuesday.

“The defendants, aged 21 and 23, kicked and punched their 22-year-old female acquaintance, after which they took her to a field where they continued the beating. The woman died on the spot,” the department said.

The defendants were charged with “intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm that resulted in the death of the victim” and face up to 15 years in a penal colony.

It was not immediately clear whether the defendants pleaded guilty. An investigation is underway.

First Published on: 22:33 06/11/2012

Source: http://en.ria.ru/crime/20121106/177237211.html

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Thane: A two-year-old girl died after accidentally consuming a lotion used to kill lice at her Dombivli house on Saturday. The Vishnu Nagar police have registered an accidental death report. The incident took place when no one was watching over the victim, Stuti Dhonde, who drank the lotion.

First Published on: Jan 20, 2014, 03.47AM IST

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Two-year-old-drinks-lotion-used-to-kill-lice-dies/articleshow/29078145.cms

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Exposure to household insecticides, including Head lice shampoos, may increase a child’s risk of developing leukemia, according to findings from a French study. But experts tell WebMD that the evidence linking insecticides to leukemia in kids remains inconclusive.

Leukemia is a cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common cancer seen in children.

In the latest study, researchers compared exposures to a variety of pesticides, as recalled by the mother, among children with leukemia and those without the disease. They concluded that the risk of developing acute leukemia was almost twice as high in children whose mothers reported using insecticides in the home while pregnant and when their children were small.

First Published on: Jan. 18, 2006

Source: http://www.webmd.com/cancer/news/20060118/insecticides-potential-leukemia-risk

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Two new studies link pesticides to childhood autism, according to a report in New Scientist.

The first study links autism to pet shampoos designed to kill fleas and ticks, and is described as “one of the first large-scale population-based studies to look at how environmental factors and their interactions with genes” trigger autism.

The insecticides in question are pyrethrins, and mothers of children with an autism spectrum disorder were twice as likely to have used a shampoo with pyrethrins while pregnant, particularly in the second trimester.

The second study suggests pregnant women exposed to organophosphates, another class of insecticides, were twice as likely to give birth to children with developmental disorders like autism. These pesticides are used in agriculture, as well as in Head lice treatment, pet shampoos and other insecticides used in households.

Pesticides often kill by interfering with the nervous systems of insects, and some have been shown to damage the human nervous system, too. The search for a cause of autism has focused on environmental contaminants or chemicals that might interfere with the normal development of the brain.

The startling rise in autism diagnoses has focused attention on the hunt for the cause or causes of the disorder, but so far nothing has yielded an effective treatment or preventative regimen. The scientists involved in the studies told New Scientist that the insecticides implicated are unlikely to be the only causes, and that they most likely prey on children whose genes make them predisposed to the disorder.

Regardless, the studies offer yet another cautionary tale about the use of toxic chemicals, particularly at home where children (and, importantly, pregnant women) are likely to come into contact with them. A rule of thumb: If it’s strong enough to kill a stubborn bug, it could be strong enough to affect your health.

Source: http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/autism-insecticides-47051601

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Sharjah: A mother and her two children landed in hospital after the mother used a pesticide to remove lice from her daughter’s hair.

The five-year-old girl Noor Al Huda was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at Al Qasimi hospital on Wednesday night, a hospital official said. She is reported to be in a coma.

The mother and her son, who had inhaled pesticide fumes, are now stable.

Outside the ICU, Noor’s father stood praying for his daughter. “My daughter hasn’t moved since yesterday,” he said.

He said he was not aware that his wife, who worked as a chemistry teacher at a school in Sharjah, had brought pesticide with her from Jordan. “My wife told me that her sisters always used this kind of pesticide to eliminate lice from the heads of their kids,” he said.

First Published on: JANUARY 28, 2012 06

Source: HTTP://GULFNEWS.COM/NEWS/UAE/EMERGENCIES/GIRL-IN-COMA-AFTER-PESTICIDE-USED-ON-HAIR-1.972321

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Stepping into the bathroom of her Park Street home Wednesday afternoon, Brie Abshier pointed out the signs of the horrific accident that days earlier left her good friend and roommate, 18-year-old Jessica Brooks, with severe, life threatening burns.

There’s dried blood on the door frame. A black spot is singed into the base of the tub. A burnt ceiling panel is perched against the wall.

All are remnants of a fire that sparked after Brooks soaked her hair in gasoline in an attempt Sunday night to kill lice she believed she recently caught.

Brooks, a former Central High School student who was taking night classes to graduate this year, was airlifted to the University of Louisville Hospital. A spokeswoman there said no information could be released on her condition, although Abshier said Wednesday she was in critical condition in a medically induced coma.

“No one’s been able to talk to her,” the 19-year-old Abshier said, her voice shaking. “No one’s been able to go see her. The doctors won’t allow it because she’s so badly burned.”

Fire officials say it happened shortly after 9 p.m. when crews were called to 1023 Park St. for a woman who had been burned. According to the 911 run card, dispatchers learned almost immediately that the injuries happened as the victim was trying to kill lice with gasoline.

Reading from a report, investigator Richard Howard said the fumes had built up in the apartment as Brooks let the gasoline set in. They were ignited by the pilot light of the nearby water heater.

Firefighters arrived to a gruesome scene. Howard said Brooks suffered second- and third degree burns over more than half of her body. Skin was hanging off her, he said, and she was bloody.

An ambulance took Brooks to Deaconess Hospital before she was flown to Louisville. Howard said it never should have happened.

“You don’t use a flammable liquid that’s not designed for that,” he said. “There’s medicine you can get from pharmacies.”

Scott Middleton, 23, found out about the accident when his younger brother, Ronald Young, called Sunday night. Young and Brooks are engaged.

Middleton arrived a short time later to find Young with burns on his arms from trying to extinguish the flames.

Middleton said Young explained to him and Abshier that someone told Brooks gasoline would kill lice, so she tried it despite Young’s objections.

“And it just went up,” Abshier said, adding it was unclear who planted the idea. “We don’t know that or why she went through with it. She’s not dumb. She’s actually pretty damn smart.”

Brooks has a long, uncertain road to recovery, her friends said Wednesday.

She suffered third degree burns on her chest, arms and hands and first and second degree burns on her face and head. Doctors had to shave off her hair to peel off the burnt skin on her scalp, Abshier said, and they already performed one surgery to bring her swelling down.

Young, who planned to marry Brooks in May on the couple’s anniversary, is staying at the Ronald McDonald house in Louisville to be close to her. Other family members also are spending time at the hospital, Abshier said, including Brooks’ mother.

“Jessica’s mom can’t be in the room for more than 10 or 15 minutes without crying because she can’t even realize that’s her own daughter,” Abshier said. “… She can’t realize it happened to her daughter of all people.”

A number of friends in Evansville are planning to raise money and travel to Louisville to see Brooks, Abshier said.

In the meantime, she said her friends are having a tough time waiting for updates on her condition. “We just hope she comes home,” Middleton said.

First Published on: 11:49 PM, Feb 25, 2009

Source: http://www.courierpress.com/news/local-news/teenagerburnedtryingto-kill-lice

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Massachusetts police are investigating the death of an 18-month-old child who suffocated, apparently because of a home remedy for head lice involving mayonnaise and a plastic bag.

A Springfield police department spokesman says officers responded to a city home last Saturday for reports of a child not breathing.

Sergeant John Delaney says the little girl’s scalp was covered in mayonnaise and a plastic shopping bag was placed over her head, a common home remedy for head lice. The girl was left unattended and apparently fell asleep, allowing the bag to slip down over her face, suffocating her.

The matter remains under investigation and no charges have been filed.

The state department of children and families is also investigating.

First Published on: Thursday 5 February 2015

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/feb/05/18-month-old-head-lice-suffocates-plastic-bag-massachusetts

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