Who are the lice. Lice - what is it? Description and photo

Despite the fact that every year the standard of living in our country is increasing, the risk of contracting a disease such as head lice is quite high. Many people believe that lice is characteristic only of beggars and homeless people who live in unsanitary conditions. In reality, this is not the case, insects like cleanly washed hair much more, and in order to become infected, it is enough to lean against an infected person in a transport or use someone else's comb. In order to take timely measures to eliminate the disease, you need to know the signs of lice on the head.

Who are lice

The louse feeds on blood by piercing the skin with a special needle. In the resulting wound, insect saliva enters, causing itching and preventing blood clotting.

Insects inhabit only those parts of the body that are covered with hair: head, pubic area, armpits. Sometimes there are lice on the eyelashes.

Nit on the hair

• Contact actions, including handshakes, any touch;
• Sharing towels, combs, hairpins;
• Visiting pools and baths. Lice can exist in water and survive for a long time without air;
• Wearing other people's hats, especially fur ones, insects can remain on them after wearing.

The danger of infection lies in wait for a person in any public place: school, hospital, children's camps, transport and others.

Symptoms of head lice

How do you know if you have lice? To do this, you need to know the main symptoms of this disease. These include constant itching, insect bites, irritability, and the formation of tangles on the head.

Itching

Other symptoms of head lice may not be noticed immediately, even with a thorough examination, and itching immediately attracts attention. If your head itches at night, washing your hair does not bring relief - this indicates that the person has lice. The behavior of the infected also changes: he constantly itches, fiddles, combs, straightens his hair. Babies in a similar situation begin to constantly act up and cry for no apparent reason.

Bites and their consequences

Similar features are typical for the development of head lice in places where it is impossible to regularly carry out hygiene procedures (wandering life, expeditions, war). Hair sticks together very quickly and gets tangled up in tangles. This allows you to determine the presence of the disease.

Complications of head lice

Whether a person has lice can be judged by the complications that appear with the development of the disease. In some cases, the first signs of lice are ignored, and further changes are hard to miss:

• The appearance of pustules on the affected areas of the skin;
• Nervous instability, irritability associated with constant itching;
• Pyoderma;
• Sleep disturbances.

Inspection at home

1. Choose a well-lit place for testing or bring the lamp closer so that the stream of light hits the person's head.
2. If your hair is long, you should loosen it and comb the strands.
3. You will need a fine-toothed comb and a magnifying glass for inspection. On each strand it is necessary to carry out a comb and carefully examine the hair through a magnifying glass.
4. Particular attention should be paid to the root areas, because this is where nits are most often located.
5. Checking yourself in this way is problematic; it is better to ask someone close to you.

At first glance, nits resemble dandruff flakes. How to check what it really is? Shake your hair slightly. Dandruff is easily eliminated and nits adhered special composition, hold tight, it is not always possible to separate them even with the help of a special comb.

You must always carefully monitor your health in order to detect signs of lice in time. In modern pharmacies, remedies for head lice are presented in a huge assortment, there are also folk methodshelping to get rid of lice. Among these options, it is worth choosing the safest proven method of treatment. It is even better if the drug is selected by a qualified specialist.

On a note!

It is argued that there are the following types of human lice: head, body and pubic lice. In reality, lice on a person's head and in his clothes are morphotypes. According to laboratory studies, if they are placed together, then they may well interbreed and even produce offspring. Accordingly, these are the same representatives of the order of lice belonging to the species Pediculus humanus.

A photo of the species of lice living on the human body is presented below.

Head lice

They are most common in humans. The disease they cause is called. Insects affect exclusively the scalp. Sometimes they can move to the chin area, dwell in the beard and mustache of the stronger sex. contact and household ways: in close communication, when using someone else's hats or hair care items (combs, hairpins, etc.).

Compared to their relatives, the size of the lice living on the human head is larger (up to 4 mm). Males are much smaller than females (2-3 mm). The piercing-sucking mouth apparatus allows the insect to bite through the human skin and feed on its blood.

On a note!

Without food, no more than a day. The life span of a bloodsucker is about three weeks, during which time the female is able to lay up to 5 eggs (nits) daily. Favorable for the temperature is in the range of 23-40 degrees. below 0 and above 45 degrees.

What are lice and nits, a person who, to one degree or another, has already encountered head lice, may know. Small (up to 0.8 mm) eggs of head lice have a light shade, in appearance they very much resemble mother-of-pearl beads. The female firmly attaches them to the hair with a secret adhesive, usually at a distance of 2 cm from the surface of the skin. it is difficult for an ignorant person. As they ripen, the eggs increase in size and acquire more dark color... The hatched larva becomes sexually mature in 5-6 days. , clearly demonstrates the photo.

Clothes or have a similar structure and body size. Their main distinctive feature is white or gray-yellow. By the name of this type of pest, it is clear that insects live mainly in people's clothes or underwear, performing on hairless areas of the body. However, having settled in things that a person does not wear often, the bloodsucker will inevitably die. That is why the owners are most often people of a low social level or vagabonds who rarely wash their clothes.

The lifespan of linen lice is within 1.5 months. During this time, the female is able to give birth to more than one hundred offspring. White lice lay very small eggs (up to 0.5 mm) right in their clothes. The development cycle of larvae takes about two weeks.

Pubic lice

On a note!

The habitat of pubic lice is the groin area, they can also be found in the armpits, on the eyebrows, etc. Sexual contact and the use of someone else's clothing are the main routes of infection with pubic lice.

Signs of any type of lice

Knowing the signs of lice and how to deal with them, you can take the necessary measures in a timely manner.

1. Itching of the skin, resulting in severe scratching. Such damage can contribute to the development of a secondary infection.
2. The appearance of a rash. A few days later, red spots appear, which subsequently have a bluish tint.
3. At the site of damage, abscesses and boils develop, as well as pigmentation and seals.
4. The presence of live, as well as the lice themselves.

Treatment methods

1. To remove head and pubic lice, you can use, or, which are based on insecticides. The selected agent is used as described. After which the hair is washed running water and let them dry naturally.
2. The next stage of the fight is, which is carried out using a special comb. It differs from a conventional comb in its fine and frequent teeth, the distance between which does not exceed 0.2 mm. For better combing, the hair should be divided into strands.
3. Washing and heat treatment it is necessary to tuck the belongings and bedding of the infected person.
4. Most often, with shampoo or spray, it becomes necessary to re-treat the head. This is due to the fact that it has an effect mainly on adults. From the remaining living nits, new larvae will appear in a few days, which will multiply again.

On a note!

Particularly popular in

Depending on the place of localization, lice are of 3 types:

• head;
• wardrobe;
• pubic.

There are the following ways of infestation with head lice:

• close contact with a person with head lice;
• the use of personal belongings of the lice carrier (combs, hats, towels, accessories);
• through bed linen;
• while in a public pool (lice can remain viable in water for up to 2 days).

Head lice feel most comfortable on long hairoh. That is why the owners of luxurious hair are at great risk of infection. Signs of head lice damage are:

• bite marks on the hairy parts of the body (on the head, in the beard, mustache, eyebrows);
• the appearance of severe itching in the back of the head, temples, ears;
• swollen lymph nodes;
• the appearance of crusts on the skin;
• anxiety and nervousness.

Read more about the symptoms of the disease, how to understand that you have lice, read on our website.

Discharge and laying of eggs cause hair tangling, unpleasant odor. Severe cases of head lice are accompanied by the formation of tangles (lumps of strands).

Note! There is no risk of infection during handshakes and when staying at a distance of more than 50 cm from the patient. It is a mistake to believe that head lice is spread by pets. Human lice do not feed on their blood and do not settle in wool.

Body lice bites affect the neck, upper back, shoulders, waist, lower back. Head lice is much less common than head lice. It is mainly found in persons who do not observe personal hygiene. At risk are people living in unsanitary conditions who rarely change bedding.

Infection with body lice occurs in the following cases:

• wearing the clothes of a sick person;
• being close to things or sleeping in bed of the carrier of head lice;
• being in crowded places;
• trying on clothes in spontaneous markets or second-hand shops.

The symptoms of linen lice infestation are obvious: the presence of bite marks that heal within 4 days, severe itching, urticaria. An insect attack often results in bluish spots on the skin. In more severe cases body temperature may rise. Headaches, nervous disorders develop, digestion is disturbed.

Pubic

Pubic lice (ploshchiki) cause a type of head lice known as phthiriasis.A favorite place for localization of insects is the pubis. They also inhabit the external genitals and armpits. In these places, apocrine glands are located in large numbers, attracting the planters with their smell. Often, this species settles in the anus, on the eyelashes, legs and chest. These insects are almost never found on the head.

Their sizes are small - up to 1.5 mm. The body of the insect is flattened, light brown in color. The food for pubic lice, like in the two previous species, is human blood. Lice are not able to live in areas of the body devoid of vegetation. That's why shaving the intimate area - good remedy prevention of phthiriasis.

Sexually mature individuals lay eggs at the hair roots. Temperature environment less than 20 ° C and more than 40 ° C is unfavorable for reproduction of offspring. In such conditions, lice stop multiplying.

Phthiriasis transmission routes:

• sexual intercourse with a sick partner;
• contact with the skin of the carrier of the disease;
• using the things of the infected;
• stay in baths, swimming pools, saunas, public toilets, solariums.

After infection incubation period lasts up to 30 days.Signs of the development of the disease: itching, small hemorrhages in the affected area. Blisters are common among those with sensitive skin.

Another indicator of the presence of pubic lice is traces of lice on the underwear. They look like dark small specks. The insects themselves become more visible after they are saturated with blood.

Who are lice?

The suborder of lice is scattered all over the world: they live wherever their victims are

Lice development goes through three stages:

• egg;
• larva;
• imago (adult).

Man is annoyed by two species: Pediculus humanus and Phthirus pubis (and). The rest of the squad is also divided according to the victim on which they can exist. For example, there are rat and pork lice. There are about 500 species in total.

Sometimes you can find information that a person is annoyed by 3 types: headwear, clothes (underwear) and pubic. But, from the point of view of biology, this is a misconception, because the first two are varieties of Pediculus humanus with slight morphological differences.

Description of adults

The insect's mouth apparatus meets the needs of its lifestyle: it is a piercing-sucking type. The base is made up of a tube, at the outer end of which there are hooks that cling to the victim's skin for stability and tight contact. It contains two sharp stylets in the form of needles. When the insect is not feeding, it pulls the proboscis into the head capsule. Nature has taken care of the interesting function of the anterior part of the esophagus of the louse: when feeding, it contracts and expands, acting as a pump. Thanks to this, the insect sucks blood.

Insects do not have organs of vision, although in some species they are replaced by age spots. Lice do not need eyes: they orient themselves in space with the help of short antennae. They pick up odors by performing an olfactory function.

Lifestyle

The louse spends almost its entire life on the body of one owner, only in urgent cases looking for a new victim. The duration of how long lice live averages 38 days. The insect is very sensitive to environmental conditions:

You should also pay attention to the question of interest to many, how long lice live outside a person. Having lost its food source, the insect soon dies: it usually takes 2 days, although the most tenacious individuals can last up to 10 days.

On the human body, lice choose the warmest and most secluded places. The underwear variety is usually hidden in the neck or armpits, and the head variety is usually hidden in the back of the head and behind the ears.

They live exclusively on the scalp and never move to other parts of the body. This feature is associated with the structure of its legs. They are suitable for moving only through hair with a round section. If you look at the section of the hair growing on the body, it will be triangular.

The life cycle of a louse, despite its short duration, is quite interesting. Insects are characterized by sexual reproduction, which takes place in three stages:

Continuation of the genus requires active feeding of females with blood. Reproduction is not possible if the ambient temperature is less than 21 ° C and higher than 37 ° C. The term for the development of embryos inside the eggs also depends on this indicator. If it is about 36 ° C, then the larvae will be born in 4-8 days. When temperatures are around 23 ° C, development can take up to 16 days. When it drops to 22 ° C and rises to 40 ° C, the larvae do not hatch from the eggs.

The vitality of the lice population is also explained by how many eggs lice lay: from several dozen to several hundred in fertile species.

Nutrition

Lice are an insect with an intense diet. For 24 hours they "feed" more than 10 times, and for each "meal" the individual absorbs approximately 0.5 ml of blood. The very process of sucking blood, made possible by the special structure of the oral apparatus, takes place in several stages:

1. From the proboscis, located at the end of the head of the louse, two sharp stylets in the form of needles appear, which pierce upper layer skin. Such knives are modified parts of the lower lip and upper jaw.
2. From the fold that surrounds the proboscis tube, when it is turned out, hooks-appendages appear. With the help of them, the insect's mouth apparatus adheres tightly to the victim's skin.
3. Through the hole made, the louse injects saliva into the skin, which is produced in abundance by the glands. It contains coagulants, with the introduction of which the blood ceases to coagulate and, therefore, the wound does not heal.
4. By alternating contraction and expansion of the esophagus tube, blood is drawn from the capillaries into the abdomen of the insect.

The only substance suitable for feeding lice is the blood of warm-blooded animals. No other organic parts of the body - for example, hair or dead skin flakes, their mouth apparatus cannot swallow. But the closest relatives of lice are capable of this: chewing lice and lice eaters, which sometimes leads to confusion.

Nits and nymphs

Nits are lice eggs, from which the next stage of insect development - the nymph - appears. They are oval in shape. Embryos are reliably protected from unfavorable conditions the environment is a dense shell with a yellowish tint.

For development to be successful, there must be a suitable temperature and humidity, otherwise the embryos in the eggs will die. On the human body, conditions are almost ideal, while outside the body, nits die. The eggs are securely attached to the hairs and fibers of clothing with the help of a sticky substance secreted in special glands in the female during the laying of eggs.

Human harm

Fighting lice is not so easy: they attach very firmly to the hair in their habitat, as well as to the fabric of clothing. Therefore, simply shaking off and washing your hair will not be enough.

Therefore, if a person has lice, it is required to immediately begin to destroy them. The danger of infection lies in the fact that insects are easily transmitted to others through personal contact and the sharing of household items.

• relapsing fever;
• volyn fever;
• rat typhus;
• relapsing fever.

All these ailments are dangerous to the human body. They damage the cardiovascular and nervous systems, as well as other organs. In the past, typhoid infection meant a high probability of death, but once antibiotics are used, the chances of a favorable outcome increase many times over.

Lice neighborhood history

Lice control methods

Hygiene is key. You should try not to use other people's towels, combs and other personal items.

To this day, they are widely used folk remedies... They involve the use of herbal ingredients (such as black cumin) and substances that attack insects, such as vinegar and kerosene. But the easiest and fastest "folk" way to get rid of lice is to dye your hair with a paint containing hydrogen peroxide, covering it with the applied chemical composition plastic bag.

In modern society, it is not customary to discuss such a problem as lice. It is believed that this is the lot of the poor, and only those who do not maintain personal hygiene suffer from it. However, despite the development of medicine, people still continue to become infected with lice in all corners of the planet, regardless of the standard of living. How to protect yourself and your children, as well as cope with the disease yourself, you can learn from this article.

Who are lice and what harm do they do to humans?

The louse feeds on human blood. This makes it a carrier of infectious diseases such as typhoid or fever.

Scientists have found that head lice in humans can be caused by three subspecies of lice:

1. head - lice live on the scalp;
2. wages - in the hairline on the body;
3. pubic - in intimate areas.

IMPORTANT! Most infections with pubic lice occur through intimate contact.

Despite the fact that lice occur not only in humans, but also in most mammals, it is impossible to get infected with them from a dog or cat, since each species of animal has its own subspecies of lice.

Life cycle

Lice develop rapidly. Every day, the female leaves a clutch of 10 eggs in her hair, which are called nits. With a special sticky compound, she attaches it to the base of the hair. After a week, larvae begin to appear. Outwardly, they look like a smaller copy of an adult louse. After another week, the larva becomes an adultcapable of postponing new nits.

Thus, in just a couple of weeks, the lice population can grow into a whole colony that can poison a person's life and cause serious consequences in the body.

Where do lice come from?

A louse does not know how to jump far, fly and run fast, and it is also impossible to pick it up from wild or domestic animals, nevertheless everyone can get infected, regardless of their lifestyle and level of cleanliness.

Contact with an infected person

The main reason for the appearance of lice is contact with an infected person. It is enough to come into contact with a sick head lice once in public transport or in any other place where people gather. Infection is possible through any bodily contact with the carrier - kiss, play together on the playground, hugs. Therefore, in the event of head lice in children's team, it is transmitted from child to child at lightning speed.

ATTENTION!A louse cannot exist for a long time without a person, since it is deprived of the only source of nutrition - blood.

Things and care products

This method of infection is less common, however, cases of transmission of nits through household items are recorded often.

You can get lice after sharing:

• combs;
• towels or clothes;
• blankets and pillows;
• hats, especially fur hats;
• intimate hygiene products.

It is quite simple to protect yourself from this method of infection - you should not share clothes and care products with other people. If there is a suspicion that the thing was used by a sick person, it must be heat treated.

Pools, standing ponds, saunas

Lice can easily tolerate being in water, and can also do without oxygen for a long time, so one of the ways of infection can be visiting a bathhouse, swimming pool or swimming in a stagnant body of water after a person with head lice.

Places with a lot of people

The denser the settlement of people, the higher the likelihood of picking up lice. History knows cases of mass infection among refugees in camps and military men in barracks. Nowadays, places of large gathering of people can be mass events, work groups, children's camps and public transport. The appearance in such places of a person with head lice can lead to massive infection of others.

Lice in children

Lice are most prevalent in children's groups. There are several reasons for this:

• closer contact with each other - arises as a result of joint games and hugs;
• frequency of contacts with peers - children visit kindergartens and schools every day, where there is a high probability of a source of the disease and its rapid spread;
• lack of personal hygiene skills - the use of other people's combs, toys, bed and clothing.

How to identify lice?

Head lice symptoms do not appear immediately after infection, but only after a few days or even weeks. This is due to the fact that the infection does not occur by the lice themselves, but by nits, which take time to develop on the body of a new carrier.

Signs of a lice infestation:

• itchy scalp - occurs during and after a bite;
• nits detection - Lice eggs look like sesame seeds and are attached at the base of the hair;
• nervous state - often occurs in children at the time of infection;
• allergic spots - insect saliva can cause an allergic reaction;
• bite marks - you can find them on open areas heads, for example, near the ears and eyebrows, as well as at the temples;
• scratching and purulent wounds - appear with an advanced form of the disease;
• inflammation of the apron lymph nodes - occurs during the complication of head lice and speaks of an infectious infection of the bite site.

If there is a suspicion that a person has been infected with head lice, a visual examination of the scalp should be carried out immediately. This must be done according to the following rules:

• a special comb and a white napkin are pre-prepared;
• inspection is carried out in good lighting;
• hair must be untangled and combed;
• several strands are selected and combed;
• the comb is wiped on a napkin;
• the napkin is examined for lice and nits.

How to get rid of lice?

Mechanical methods

Shepherd combing - the most effective and safe way getting rid of lice for humans. The technology allows you to completely get rid of lice and nits, while maintaining the health of the skin and hair. The method is suitable for children, pregnant women and people with sensitive scalp, for whom the use of strong poisonous agents is contraindicated.

After the first treatment, most of the lice will be removed from the hair. Further combing out is needed in order to get rid of the larvae and remaining nits.

The disadvantages of this method include:

• procedures cannot be carried out by oneself;
• it will not be possible to get rid of lice in one day;
• the price for a comb of a good company starts from 1 thousand rubles;
• it will take a lot of time and effort to complete the full course of procedures.

To enhance the effect, simultaneously with combing, you can use chemical or folk remedies to remove lice.

Haircut

A radical way of dealing with head lice is suitable for men or young children. The bottom line is to completely shave off the scalp "to zero". Previously, the head can be treated with any remedy for lice. On smooth shaved skin, insects will have nowhere to lay eggs, which means they will no longer be able to reproduce.

IMPORTANT! To avoid further infection, cut hair should be burned.

Chemical methods

In a short period of time, head lice can be cured with the help of pharmaceutical preparations, which are divided into:

• liquid shampoos;
• dry products;
• gels and ointments;
• lotions and balms;
• aerosols.

The composition of the funds includes various toxic substances that destroy nervous system insect. These drugs are sold without a prescription. The application consists in applying the product to the area where lice are spread.

This category also includes synthetic products, which contain dimethicone and cyclomethicone. After application, they envelop the insects with a thin film and block the flow of air. These drugs have enough high efficiencyhowever, they do not guarantee complete lice control.

Herbal decoctions, plant juices, essential oils

Their task is to kill or scare away lice. For this in traditional medicine use: decoctions of geranium, chamomile, wormwood, tansy, needles and mint, garlic juice, essential oil tea tree, mint, oregano, sage, lavender and rosemary. According to reviews, the effect of such treatment is mild and is more suitable as a prevention.

The task of such funds is to kill live lice and destroy the chitinous membrane of nits due to an aggressive alkaline and acidic environment. Apply cranberry juice, dusty, tar or laundry soapas well as hydrogen peroxide. In fact, the funds have an average result in terms of effectiveness.

Enveloping products

As in the case of synthetic drugs, such products deprive lice of oxygen. In folk medicine, mayonnaise or petroleum jelly is used for this. Depending on the density of the composition, the funds can have a good effect.

Toxic agents

Thermal method

Method in last years spread abroad. Lice are destroyed by a jet of hot air, the temperature of which is 60 degrees. A special hair dryer is used for this. Despite the simplicity and safety of the method, in Russia it has not yet received widespread use, and the range of suitable equipment leaves much to be desired.

IMPORTANT! Carrying out the treatment procedure with a regular hairdryer, curling iron or hair iron, it is easy to get a thermal burn.

Prevention

Individual preventive measures include:

• regular head examination for lice and nits;
• owners of long hair wearing neat hairstyles;
• the use of preventive pharmaceuticals;
• carrying out the combing procedure during the period of illness of one of your friends;
• maintaining hygiene, regularly changing bed linen;
• avoiding close contact with strangers.

Pediculosis protection measures for children:

• regular medical examination by a specialist;
• introduction of quarantine in educational institution in the event of an outbreak of the disease;
• sanitation of the room.