Therapeutic potential of plant-based therapies in pediculosis capitis: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Pediculosis capitis is a worldwide prevalent public health issue, mostly involving children. Resistance has been increasingly identified with conventional treatments such as permethrin or malathion. We aimed to evaluate the therapeutic potential of plant-based therapies for pediculosis capitis. PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, EmCare, Web of Science, Cochrane, and ScienceDirect were searched for studies.

Citation:
Chen J, Mei A, Jacques A, Ricciardo B, Bowen A. Therapeutic potential of plant-based therapies in pediculosis capitis: Systematic review and meta-analysis. PLOS Glob Public Health. 2025;5(7).

Keywords:
Pediculosis capitis; malathion; permethrin; plant-based therapies; review; head lice

Abstract:
Pediculosis capitis is a worldwide prevalent public health issue, mostly involving children. Resistance has been increasingly identified with conventional treatments such as permethrin or malathion. We aimed to evaluate the therapeutic potential of plant-based therapies for pediculosis capitis. PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, EmCare, Web of Science, Cochrane, and ScienceDirect were searched for studies.