Pubic lice, those tiny six-legged insects that live most commonly in pubic hair and are spread through close body contact, usually during sex, is now an endangered species, thanks to the now defunct TV series Sex And The City.

Not only did the once-hit TV series taught women all over the world about love, fashion and lifestyle, it also taught its viewers much there is about the benefits of unwanted body hair removal. Even down there.

Ever since the American television comedy-drama aired an episode in 2000 which the characters of Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha underwent hair wax removal, the existence of the tiny parasitic crab insects started to dwindle.

Thanks to TV Series ‘Sex And The City,’ Pubic Lice Now An Endangered Species

Figures released by the British Association of Dermatologists (BAD) showed that from 1997 to 2003, the rate of pubic lice infestation fell from 0.41 per cent to 0.17 per cent. Nowadays, reports from global sexual health point out that to have pubic lice now is considered an extremely rare case.

"What we have seen at work is the law of unintended consequences," Dr Kun Sen Chen, one of the authors of a report to be presented next week at the BAD's annual conference in Liverpool, said. "In popularising hair removal Carrie Bradshaw and co. have contributed to ridding humanity of a pest that had plagued humans for millions of years. Sadly there isn't an Emmy for that."

Dr Chen noted pubic hair removal has actually been practised by humans for thousands of years, by cultures all over the world, including the Ancient Egyptians.

Thanks to TV Series ‘Sex And The City,’ Pubic Lice Now An Endangered Species

But it was only until recently, coupled with the rise of truly global mass media, that "pubic lice have been able to weather changing cultural attitudes to body hair."

It was apparently Episode 14 in Season 3, which saw Sarah Jessica Parker's character Carrie Bradshaw visiting Los Angeles to get a "Brazilian wax" that started the very favourable health trend.