The question of how lice look is of interest to many people, especially young mothers. After all, children are especially often ill with lice - a parasitic disease. Its causative agent is the head louse. Scientists distinguish 3 varieties of lice, adapted to different living conditions. This is head lice, pubic lice, and clothes.
So what do lice look like ? These are small whitish-gray insects, about 3 mm in size. Mostly lice and nits live on the head, but eyebrows and eyelashes are sometimes affected.
Infection occurs by contact with someone with pediculosis. The main symptom that should alert parents is an itch at the site of a lice bite. Eggs - nits will also be visible. Therefore, everyone needs to know how lice look in order to immediately begin treatment.
Lice parasitize only on mammals, but feed on blood. Nits adhere firmly to the hair. The likelihood of pediculosis increases with poor housing conditions, poor hygiene, and crowding. Interestingly, even in ancient times, people suffered from lice - they found dried insects in mummies! The first reports of these parasites were left by Aristotle. Currently, the peak incidence occurs in September, when children go to school, kindergarten.
Lice may occur in clean people who are zealous in hygiene. A person who does not even know how lice look and have never seen them can get infected. Enough minute contact with the carrier - and the lice move to a person who does not suspect anything of a meeting with parasites.
Head louse lives about 40 days. For 35 days, she is able to lay many eggs (up to 12 per day). Nits look like small, fluid-filled pouches. After exiting the egg, the louse begins to grow, eating blood.
More often, lice are found in females, since their survival increases when a person has long hair. You can get infected through combs, hair brushes, hats. Lice can jump very high, such agility helps them survive.
Pubic lice is caused by a plaque laying eggs on the skin of the genital organs. Outwardly, the pubic louse looks like a crab. Sometimes pubic lice move to eyebrows, beard, axillary hollows. This unpleasant disease is more common among homosexuals. The transmission of the pathogen through a washcloth, bedding, and other personal items is also possible.
The body louse lives in the folds of clothes, often affects skin in the neck, lower back, and interscapular region. Mostly observed in those who live in unsatisfactory conditions does not observe hygiene.
Factors contributing to the spread of head lice:
- Lack of normal sanitary conditions;
- Migration of people;
- Tourism;
- Accommodation in large groups.
You need to know that from the moment of infection with parasites to the appearance of itching, a whole month can pass.
The main symptoms of head lice :
- Itching. It occurs with any type of pediculosis. It is especially often scratched behind the ears, in the temple area. With clothes lice, itching becomes unbearable, has a diffuse character. At night it intensifies.
“A rash may appear a couple of days after being bitten.” Red spots usually appear. With clothes lice, the skin is pigmented throughout the body, has a bluish tint. When bitten by the plaques, small blue spots appear (this color is due to staining of the skin).
- Combing. With prolonged scratching, purulent crusts appear.
- Nits in the hair. If there are lice eggs on the head, then the parasites are firmly established there. They look like bubbles. Nits are dead and alive (the latter have a brilliant color).
Diagnosis is by fluorescence. Living nits fluoresce in white, empty in gray.
The treatment is complex - you need to comb out the nits, treat with a special tool (for example, Medifox), wash with shampoo. Folk methods are also used. These are masks from vegetable oil, fish oil, kerosene.