Among the common human diseases is pediculosis caused by body lice. Both adults and children can become infected. We will get acquainted with the main causes leading to the appearance of pests, symptoms and basic methods of control. It is very important to start the destruction of pests as quickly as possible, because with their small size they can do huge harm.
Description
Consider what lice look like . These parasites are visible to the naked eye, since the length of their elongated body is about 3-5 mm. The color of the abdomen is light beige, sometimes light gray, yellowish. When the pest is saturated, its abdomen acquires a darker color, becomes full, rounded.
The oral apparatus is similar in appearance to a needle located in a soft tube - the oral cavity. Like other lice, it has three pairs of legs. It differs from a flea in the inability to jump, but it moves on the surface with a rather high speed for its size - up to 20 cm / min.
Developmental stages
Consider the life cycle of pests. First, the female lays eggs. They are coated with a special adhesive substance that helps them attach to the surface of the material. On average, their length does not exceed 0.5 mm, so it is difficult for the human eye to detect them.
Further, from the eggs into the world there appear lice larvae, which for the first time drink human blood and immediately molt, becoming nymphs of the first age. They are in such “status” for 5 days, after which they molt again, becoming a nymph of the second age. This larva is practically indistinguishable from adult individuals, but reaches a length of not more than 2 mm. The final third molt occurs after 8 days, after which the nits are fully formed and become full lice.
Under normal conditions (temperature not less than +18 ° , food availability) the pest development cycle from an egg to an adult will be about 15-16 days.
Features
We examined how the louse looks like. Now let's get acquainted with the features of her lifestyle. As the name implies, she lives on clothes, while preference is given to products made of natural fabric (linen, cotton, wool), and she chooses folds on products, a pile of fabric as the place for laying eggs. To get food, pests are transferred to a person, then again returned to the tissue, at a time they can drink up to 2 mg of blood.
Worm nits are characterized by high fecundity; only one female is able to lay about 300 eggs. The life span is short - the female will live no more than 1.5 months, the male - even less, 3.5-4 weeks. But even for such a short time, lice can cause a lot of inconvenience to their "owner". Unlike other types of lice, wreckers do not live on the human body, but on clothes, hiding in its seams and folds. It is there that their reproduction takes place.
Infection pathways
Despite the fact that pediculosis is a disease characteristic of natural disaster zones and impoverished neighborhoods drowning in mud, even a very modern person who monitors hygiene can encounter it. Places that are dangerous from the point of view of infection are quite diverse:
- Public transport.
- Motels and hotels, whose staff is not distinguished by conscientiousness and does not change bed linen after each guest.
- Foreign clothing, especially purchased in second-hand stores.
- Public baths.
- Changing rooms for gyms.
- Institutions for children, camps.
You can get head lice by accidental contact with an infected person, so you need to be very careful.
What is the danger
Body lice not only cause discomfort and constant itching, but can also become carriers of dangerous diseases, especially typhus, so you should get rid of them immediately.
The pest needs three meals a day, while each meal is accompanied by severe itching for the wearer, often interfering with a normal life. A person combes the bites of body lice, which leads to the formation of ulcers and abscesses, causes a risk of infection, the appearance of furunculosis.
Symptoms
In order to destroy body lice in time, one should be guided by the signs of their appearance. In many ways, they resemble the attack of bed bugs:
- Itching throughout the body, sensation of painful bites.
- On the body, you can see the bite marks, which gradually pass, but then reappear.
- Sometimes pests cause allergic manifestations, in this case, a rash forms on the sites of infection, the skin becomes covered with red spots, intolerably itchy, which often comb to the blood.
- Traces of chitinous cover or nits themselves are visible in the folds of clothes and seams.
- Eggs can even be located on the human body, they are especially characteristic for fluffy hair.
Among the "favorite" pests of body parts include:
- cervical-collar zone of the back;
- lower back;
- waist;
- axillary hollows.
Sometimes they “attack” other parts of the body, but on the head and other areas covered with hair, body lice, in contrast to the head and pubic, do not occur.
Methods of struggle
We will get acquainted with the remedies for body lice and the features of their use. It is easy to get rid of parasites, the main thing is to act correctly:
- First of all, you should take a shower, thoroughly soap the whole body with tar soap.
- Then you need to use a special tool. It can be Nittifor or Pair Plus. They are applied to the whole body, the affected areas, as well as the “favorite” pests of the area, should be treated especially carefully. After the time indicated on the instructions for a specific drug, it is washed off, most often this interval is from 15 to 60 minutes.
- After processing, you should put on clean, ironed clothes, change bedding.
- If at least one member of the family is infected, everyone will have to undergo anti-pedicular treatment.
Clothes lice live on clothes, underwear and bedding, so you need to process them too. It is best to wash things at the highest temperature or boil, then dry in the sun and be sure to iron with a hot iron, nits die when exposed to elevated temperatures. During washing, a little vinegar should be added to the basin with linen, it will also increase the chance of a complete disposal.
When washing things, you can use such products containing permethrin, which is dangerous for pests:
- Avicin
- "Foresight-Antivosh";
- Acromed
- Medifosk.
First, linen should be soaked in the prepared solution, then washed and rinsed, you can use the machine mode. Textile processing and emulsion Medilis-super are suitable.
Facilities
Consider how to get rid of body lice. There are several tools that have proven effective:
- Medifox It destroys adult pests and nits, the concentrate should be diluted with water and applied to the skin, left to act for 30 minutes.
- Lotion "Foxilon", the active ingredient of which is benzyl benzoate. Fully ready for use, rubbed into the body after water procedures, the time for exposure is 15 minutes.
- "Paranit." This is a spray, one solution is enough to solve the problem.
To speed up the healing of wounds and abrasions, use the Zvezdochka balm.
If an allergic reaction occurs, you must visit a medical specialist and begin a course of antihistamines.
Note that if you start treatment on time, you can limit yourself to an ordinary shower and tar soap, as well as boiling clothes without the use of medications.
For more information on clothes lice, see the next video.
Prevention
It is always easier to prevent the occurrence of parasites than to fight them, so preventive measures should be given special attention. Lice are afraid of cleanliness, so regular linen change, its timely washing and ironing will be the best ways to protect yourself from an unpleasant neighborhood.
You should not store a whole pile of old clothes in the closet, which is unlikely to be useful to any member of the family, this is a real hotbed of parasites dangerous to health, so you should get rid of it without any pity.
Pediculosis can be infected by accidental contact with patients, especially lice can be found on people who do not have a specific place of residence, so if possible, all communication with them should be minimized. Caution should be observed in inexpensive hotel rooms: before you go to bed, you should carefully inspect the bedding, make sure it is clean.
Often, head lice choose the folds of an old blanket and pillow seams as their home. Therefore, bedding should be updated periodically.
Body lice are unpleasant creatures, but they can be quite easily detected and destroyed, therefore, for a modern person who follows personal hygiene, they do not pose a particular danger.