Cure for Head Lice?

The mother of the young family that lives with me in Alamikamba has complained for the last couple of weeks that her two young daughters have been coming home from school with bad cases of head lice. I have watched on a couple of occaisions as she carefully picked out the lice and their eggs, then, proceeds to shampoo their scalp with laundry bar soap. She has searched in the stores here for medicine specific to this problem. But, Alamikamba has no real pharmacy.

This morning I noticed that the girls´ mother had mixed a liquid concoction of some sort and was carefully applying it to each girl´s scalp. After the application, she tightly wrapped each girl´s head with a bandana and sent the girls out to play for a couple of hours before washing the solution out of their hair. The mother exclaimed to me that she had apparently discovered a cure for her problem because the lice were dying in her hands.

Imagining that she had gone to the bush to conjure up some collection of native leaves and roots, I asked her what she had done. Obviously a bit embarrassed because she had not asked for my permission first, she explained that she had found a bottle of dog shampoo that I use to kill fleas and ticks on my dogs. She thinned down the liquid and applied it to the girls´ scalps.

I can´t confirm yet if this make-do medication actually cured the problem. But, I do imagine that I notice one side effect. The girls seem to be growling at me more than usual!