In Vitro and In Vivo Evaluation of Infestation Deterrents Against Lice

The human head louse is a cosmopolitan ectoparasite and frequently infests many people, particularly school-age children. Due to widespread pyrethroid resistance and the lack of efficient resistance management, there has been a considerable interest in the protection of uninfested people and prevention of reinfestation by disrupting lice transfer. In this study, two nonclinical model systems (in vitro and in vivo) were used to determine the efficacy of the infestation deterrents, Elimax lotion and Elimax shampoo, against human head lice or poultry chewing lice, respectively. With in vitro assessments, female head lice exhibited significantly higher avoidance responses to hair tufts treated with either of the test formulations, which led to significantly higher ovipositional avoidance when compared with female lice on control hair tufts. Additionally, both formulations were determined to be competent infestation deterrents in a competitive avoidance test in the presence of a known attractant (head louse feces extract). In in vivo assessments using a previously validated poultry model, Elimax shampoo was determined to be an efficacious deterrent against poultry chewing lice within Menopon spp. and Menacanthus spp.