This big new news story is sure to cause some people to panic about head lice and wonder, "What ever will we do to stop head lice?" The answer is wet combing. This news story is not new; lice have been shown to be resistant to these chemicals for years. And, when I was doing home lice removal, almost 100% of my clients had first tried lice treatments that had contained permethrin (as found in Nix) or pyrethrin (as found in R&C). But lice cannot build up a resistance to the simple act of taking the lice and nits off of the head.
Lice combing is not the most exciting activity. But it is cheap (cheaper than buying the "shampoos") and it works (better than the shampoos). Now, I have a cheap but good lice comb already (and I recommend you have one on hand as well). If one of my kids were to get head lice, which has happened, I would grab my comb and my conditioner and give my kid a combing faster than the time it would take me to go out and purchase a "shampoo", treat the hair, wait the amount of time the directions tell you to wait, wash the stuff out of the hair. I know that I would have to do more than one combing, but don't kid yourself with the "shampoos" - you have to do these more than once; some studies say that you have to now do them three times. AND these "shampoos" still come with a comb and tell you to comb out the bugs and eggs. These convenient treatments are not so convenient. And, as we see with these news stories, they are not that effective.
So, have no fear of Super Lice. You may not be able to leap over tall buildings in a single bound, but with a good lice comb, you can still fight the bad guys.