Consumers on the lookout for effective, easy-to-use solutions at pharmacies

The predominant factor impacting sales of the $158.1 million parasite treatment category is super lice. But how do you treat cases of head lice that can’t be eradicated through the use of traditional pediculicides? And more importantly, for parents it’s how do you eliminate that “super lice” infestation without injuring the host, which just happens to be their children?

Super lice are certainly prevalent throughout the United States. The Journal of Medicine Entomology last reported that an average of 98% of head lice in 42 states have developed genetic mutations, making them resistant to permethrin, the active ingredient in OTC lice medications. But overall, super lice have been identified in 48 states, noted Joseph Juliano, VP of marketing analgesics, eye care and marketing services at Prestige Brands.

Each year, as many as 12 million sets of those parents come home to find their children frantically scratching at their heads due to a head lice infestation.

So what is the solution? Is it a matter of asking the doctor for a second-generation, prescription-only pediculicide because OTC products are no longer effective? Not necessarily. Parents still have good OTC options available at their local retail pharmacies. According to several manufacturers interviewed by Drug Store News. Parents are looking to their community pharmacists for solutions that work, are easy to apply and that address the whole problem, including prevention of re-infestation, they told DSN.

Parents need solutions that not only effectively eliminate super lice and their eggs, but also facilitate easy comb-out of the nit, Juliano said. “Nits are very hard to remove. Consumers need something that makes it easy [and] pesticide-free — moms prefer products without pesticides for their children,” he said.

And those solutions need to be easy to use, added Kelly Brodbeck, chief strategy officer at Larada Sciences. “[Parents want] something that works, [and] that works with a minimum of applications from a company that is truthful in its efficacy claims,” he said. “Consumer purchase priorities are efficacy (it should work within the claimed time frame), value (they shouldn’t need to buy more product), experience (it shouldn’t be too long, be too messy or hard to apply the treatment) [and] price (it has to be affordable, generally less than $30 per cure).”

Beyond eliminating lice, parents also are looking to prevent a re-infestation from within their own home — it can take as long as six weeks from the time parents are informed that their child may have been exposed to lice to the time those first telltale itching symptoms manifest. “Parents are looking for a complete solution that matches their newly educated perspective that pesticide-free is [an] effective and a viable alternative,” said Amanda Sicvol, director of marketing and sales at TyraTech. “More than half of parents buying treatment products are looking for a product to clean their home simultaneously,” she added. “Giving parents ancillary products to empower them in all aspects of lice management can broaden the target for the category, and increase buying occasions and basket ring for the retailer.”

To download the full Super Bugs report, click here.