The head louse (Pediculus humanus capitis) is a persistent nuisance, clinging to and laying its eggs in the hair, digging its mouthparts into the scalp and feeding on blood several times a day. The body louse (Pediculus humanus humanus) tends to be larger than its cranial counterpart, and is a more dangerous parasite. It lays its eggs on clothing, takes bigger blood meals, and can transmit relapsing fever, trench fever and epidemic typhus to its human host.
How many physicians would recognize those diseases these days? Around here, most docs younger than 50 misdiagnose the occasional case of bubonic plague I just found the other info interesting and included it. Besides, who knew that lice were racists?
Before Kwell, the generally accepted topical treatment for lice was kerosene. I have no knowledge of its effectiveness. Or that of Kwell, for that matter.
My son got head lice when he was little, and shared them. It took days to get rid of them. You have to poison them, comb out all the nits, and poison again a few days later. The nits cannot be poisoned because of their shells.