Editing Pediculosis (section)

===Epidemiology===
About 14 million people, mainly children, are treated annually for head lice in the United States alone. Only a small proportion of those treated, however, may have objective evidence of an extant infestation.<ref name="pmid=10959734">{{cite journal | vauthors = Pollack RJ, Kiszewski AE, Spielman A | title = Overdiagnosis and consequent mismanagement of head louse infestations in North America | journal = The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal | volume = 19 | issue = 8 | pages = 689–93; discussion 694 | date = August 2000 | pmid = 10959734 | doi = 10.1097/00006454-200008000-00003 | s2cid = 2557006 }}</ref> High levels of louse infestations have also been reported from all over the world including Denmark, Sweden, U.K., France and Australia.<ref name="pmid14651472">{{cite journal | vauthors = Burgess IF | title = Human lice and their control | journal = Annual Review of Entomology | volume = 49 | pages = 457–481 | date = January 2004 | pmid = 14651472 | doi = 10.1146/annurev.ento.49.061802.123253 | publisher = [[Annual Reviews (publisher)|Annual Reviews]] | s2cid = 21144817 }}</ref><ref name="JDD">{{cite journal | vauthors = Mumcuoglu KY, Barker SC, Burgess IE, Combescot-Lang C, Dalgleish RC, Larsen KS, Miller J, Roberts RJ, Taylan-Ozkan A | display-authors = 6 | title = International guidelines for effective control of head louse infestations | journal = Journal of Drugs in Dermatology | volume = 6 | issue = 4 | pages = 409–414 | date = April 2007 | pmid = 17668538 }}</ref>
Normally head lice infest a new host only by close contact between individuals, making social contacts among children and parent child interactions more likely routes of infestation than shared combs, brushes, towels, clothing, beds or closets. Head-to-head contact is by far the most common route of lice transmission.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}

The United Kingdom's National Health Service, and many American health agencies,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/cd/cdped.shtml |title=Lice (Pediculosis) - What are lice? |access-date=2007-07-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070708233440/http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/cd/cdped.shtml |archive-date=2007-07-08 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/head-lice/Pages/Introduction.aspx Head lice and nits - NHS Choices]. Nhs.uk (2016-05-17). Retrieved on 2016-10-14.</ref> report that lice "prefer" clean hair, because it's easier to attach eggs and to cling to the strands.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}

[[Head lice]] (''Pediculus humanus capitis'') are not known to be [[Vector (epidemiology)|vectors]] of diseases, unlike body lice (''Pediculus humanus humanus''), which are known vectors of epidemic or [[louse-borne typhus]] (''Rickettsia prowazekii''), [[trench fever]] (''Rochalimaea quintana'') and [[louse-borne relapsing fever]] (''Borrelia recurrentis'').{{cn|date=April 2023}}