This is the most common way to get head lice - Nazzy Pakpour
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For as long as humans have had lice, we’ve fought hard to get rid of them. Nit combs, the fine-tooth brushes used to remove lice and their sticky eggs, have been found among the ancient remains of cultures across the globe. Today it’s estimated we spend billions of dollars each year treating infestations. So why are lice so difficult to get rid of? Nazzy Pakpour digs into these stubborn insects.
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Additional Resources for you to Explore
Scientists have also used lice to better understand human behavior. This article from the Smithsonian shares how scientists used lice to estimate when humans began wearing clothes and this article from Science magazine shares how lice DNA was used to trace the European colonization of the Americas.
For the impact of lice in present day, visit the Center for Disease Control "About Head Lice" page. Finally, if all this talk of lice has made you worried you might be infested, check out this video from the American Academy of Dermatology on how to do a proper lice check.
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Meet The Creators
- Educator Nazzy Pakpour
- Director Oksana Kurmaz
- Narrator Alexandra Panzer
- Music Cem Misirlioglu, Work Play Work
- Sound Designer Stas Kolesnikov
- Director of Production Gerta Xhelo
- Produced by Abdallah Ewis
- Editorial Director Alex Rosenthal
- Editorial Producer Shannon Odell
- Script Editor Max G. Levy
- Fact-Checker Charles Wallace