It's frustrating enough that up to 12 million children will bring home head lice each year, but parents are about to get especially annoyed now: the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention have issued a warning about an outbreak of a new strain of super lice. That's right: super lice.

This form of the parasite is much more resistant to treatment — specifically pyrethroids, the active ingredients in most over-the-counter medications. According to new research, the lice have evolved over the years to become more immune to the bug-killing chemicals. Three months ago, they'd spread to 25 states, but now they've reached 48 [1].

Thankfully, experts maintain there's no cause for concern [2]. "It's important not to panic," Dr. Sarah Stein of University of Chicago Medicine told NBC [3]. "Lice are not a health hazard. They don't transmit disease."

What is an itchy family to do?

According to pediatric dermatologist Dr. Robin Gehris [4], now is not the time for home remedies. "Olive oil, mayonnaise, Vaseline, these are all treatments I wouldn't recommend," she said. "But I hear school nurses recommending them all the time."

The same goes for trying to exclusively use a fine-toothed comb to pick them out, which is generally found to be an unsuccessful approach.

Instead, use over-the-counter topical hair treatments repeatedly over several weeks — five to seven days apart — making sure not to rinse the formula out too soon. Gehris even suggests having your kids leave it on overnight with a shower cap. If that doesn't work, ask your doctor about a higher dosage or a prescription treatment that the lice haven't become resistant to . . . yet.