US Rabies free per CDC

[Fraggle Rocker]

When I was growing up, no one ever heard of head lice. That was only found in derelicts and other low-lifes of society. But today, especially in a town with 2 million illegal aliens, lice is a problem in public schools--it crosses all socio-economic levels. Does anyone know if this is a problem anywhere else in the world?

I know that they have had it in the U.K. during my lifetime, but I don't know how currently. They have a much more pragmatic approach to public health over there. They dose the kids' hair with malathion and it is just flat finished! Americans pride themselves on being mathematically illiterate, so they worry about that point O O O O O O O O... whatever percent chance of malathion poisoning. They use slower, less convenient and less effective treatments, so head lice becomes an epidemic instead of a trivial nuisance.

Twenty or 25 years ago, during the great Medfly (Mediterranean fruit fly) panic in southern California, they were spraying whole neighborhoods with malathion from helicopters. People were screaming about it. The state secretary of agriculture drank a glass of the stuff on TV. The liquid the malathion was suspended in was a much bigger problem because it was capable of damaging the paint on cars parked on the street overnight. And in L.A.'s mild climate, most people use their garages for just about anything except parking their cars.

 

[Scull]

The Berlin Wall wasn't very stupid...

Lice is most common in areas without a "uniform standard" for hygene. Seems to me public lice and head lice are nearly identicle except for preferred environment, can anyone back that up?

 

[spuriousmonkey]

Head lice are pretty common among children. That's because they don't keep a distance as adults do.

It's spreads rather easily. Total lack of head lice could also be seen as an indication of lack of meaningful social interaction in a society.