The extinct of pubic lice
Pubic lice, the crab-shaped insects that have dwelled in human groins since the beginning of history, is on the watch list of threatened species, so the World Wildlife Fund confirms. “This animal’s habitat is being shorn away, one Brazilian wax at a time,” the agency’s press release notes. And entomologist Ian F. Burgess states to Bloomberg: “Add to that other aspects of body hair depilation, and you can see an environmental disaster in the making for this species.”
The Brazilian Wax technique was introduced in 1994 by a Manhattan salon run by seven Brazilian sisters. First waxing was considered to be a ‘thing’ for porn stars, but it took off internationally in the early 2000s. Possibly spurred by the attention it was given on television shows such as Sex and the City. Now a about 80 percent of college men and women in the U.S. and Australia remove all or part of their pubic hair, so researchers at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, reported in a 2011 paper. The trend is increasing in western countries. A 2005 study shows that In the U.K., 99 percent of women older than 16 years remove some hair, most commonly from the under arms, legs and pubic area.
In Sydney’s main sexual health clinic there hasn’t been a woman with pubic lice since 2008. Male cases have fallen 80 percent from about 100 a decade ago.
Historically, it’s been very difficult to get incidence data on pubic lice simply because the crab shaped insects aren’t known for spreading diseases, but they are one of the most contagious sexual transmitted infections and cause itchy skin and discomfort.
