These are more an esthetic problem than a health hazard.  I had a
breakthrough in my relationship to lice when I learned that for the first
month you have them, you don't even know it, because it takes weeks before
you develop an itch.  And you feel just fine until you find out, at which
point you want to move out of your skin and send it to an exterminator. 
Lice are not dangerous, just icky. Most of the treatments are worse than the
lice.  They can't survive more than a day or two without food (your blood!)
and if your house is warm and dry the ones that may be lurking in the linens
or clothing die even faster.  A tumble dryer works wonders.  I have heard of
people boiling their linens, fumigating their homes, going to ridiculous
measures to get rid of these prehistoric, benign critters.  They'll likely
be here long after we're gone. Mechanical removal is indeed the most effective. 
Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway

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