The human louse is a parasite, with the peculiarities of its biology and parasitic lifestyle unlike any other insect harmful to humans. Lice, upon closer examination, turn out to be very originally arranged bloodsuckers, in many ways more than other "competitors" that have adapted to life on the human body.
We will talk more about these interesting features of human lice and the specifics of dealing with them.
It is interesting
Evolutionarily, lice can be considered a kind of transitional stage in parasitism between typical "blood hunters" such as bed bugs and fleas, whose whole life passes away from a person, but who attack him only for food, and internal parasites - such as the scabies mite, which lives under human skin. The human louse has already become completely dependent on the human body, but has not yet had time to infiltrate its integuments. This determines both the specifics of lice problems and the relative ease of dealing with them.
Why are human lice dangerous?
The main dangers from the presence of human lice on the body are the reaction of the organism itself to the bites of parasites and the transfer by lice of the pathogens of some dangerous diseases.
Usually, lice in humans cause a complex of body responses, called pediculosis in medicine. Such reactions are expressed in the appearance of:
- severe itching at the bite site
- rashes on the body, and not only on the places where the bites were localized, but also on the surrounding areas of the skin
- the appearance of bluish spots due to the redistribution of pigments
- sometimes - a generalized allergic reaction with fever, headaches and nausea.
In its neglected form, pediculosis can cause the development of ulcers, boils and the appearance of deep scars on the skin.
In addition, linen lice in humans are carriers of microorganisms from the rickettsia class, some species of which are the causative agents of typhus and relapsing fever. At one time, it was these deadly diseases spread by lice that mowed down soldiers in the Russian army, and today their epidemics continue to flare up in some countries of Africa and South America.
On a note
Head and pubic lice very rarely carry typhus. However, due to the potential danger, they are actively fought in children's groups and health care institutions.
But how to distinguish between different types of human lice is a separate big question ...
Types of lice in humans
Generally speaking, a person has only two types of lice - the so-called pubic and human. At the same time, the human for all the time of neighborhood with a man managed to be divided into two forms - the head and the clothes.
The photo below shows a head louse on a heavily infested head:
And then - photos of pubic lice:
Even lower is a photograph of clothes (linen) lice on clothes:
It is interesting
Lice are parasites that are very strongly attached to one host.Human lice cannot live on other animals, and therefore, lice can only be contracted from humans. Conversely, withers in animals never parasitize humans.
The pubic louse is known for being found mainly on pubic hair, occasionally in the armpits. Pubic lice in humans look quite specific - they have a very short torso and long powerful legs. Here is another photo of pubic lice:
The size of pubic lice is up to 2 mm.
Human lice have a slightly longer torso than pubic lice. Head lice are slightly darker, body lice are almost completely white. When saturated, the abdomen of the lice darkens due to the blood in the stomach, and each insect becomes a bit like a flea or a blood-drinking bed bug larva (see photo):
In length, human lice reach 3-4 mm, but due to the fact that they live among the hair or folds of clothing, they rarely catch the eye. The photo below shows an adult insect:
Regardless of the type and shape, lice feed only on blood. They cannot penetrate human skin and cannot live long outside the body. Pubic and head lice spend most of their time on the hair, and body lice - mainly on clothes that a person practically does not take off.
What do human lice look like?
The human louse is a very small insect. The photo below shows lice and their eggs (nits):
The maximum length of an adult louse is about 4 mm. Human lice look like small wingless bugs.At the same time, head and body lice have a light white body with translucent covers, and the pubic louse is brown.
In human hair, lice are hardly noticeable: they are mainly located at the base of the hair and on the scalp. Nits are more noticeable here - they look like very small white dots located at different distances from the base of the hair. Nits are lice eggs that are firmly attached to the hairs by the female.
The photo below shows the abundance of nits on an infected head:
And the following photo shows how lice look like in humans during feeding:
On a note
The human louse is especially notable for the way each paw looks like. When viewed under a microscope, it can be seen that the last segment of her foot is a hook, well adapted to clinging to hair. By the structure of the paws alone, one can easily distinguish lice and lice from other parasites, but one cannot do without powerful optics.
From the most common human parasites, lice differ quite well:
- Bed bugs are larger and brown in color. Their larvae may look like lice, but they move much more quickly and are not found on those parts of the body where lice usually parasitize humans.
- Lice and fleas in humans usually do not occur on the same areas of the skin - fleas prefer to bite on the legs, sometimes on the sides of the body. For the hairy parts of the body, fleas practically do not bite.
- Ticks bite a person mainly on the legs and differ from lice in their dark body color, 8 paws (there are 6 in lice) and a very long blood sucking.
- Scabies mites are much smaller than lice and live exclusively under the skin. It causes itching, but its activity does not cause bites characteristic of lice.
Bed bug photo:
Flea photo:
Photo of a tick:
And this is what a scabies mite looks like:
Lice can be distinguished from other blood-sucking human parasites by the appearance of the bites themselves. In bedbugs and fleas, bites are often located on the same line - the insect bites several times, moving several centimeters from the previous place of sucking blood. Lice don't do that. And ixodid ticks leave behind a fairly large hard bump - lice bites are much smaller in size.
And further: It's time to finally get those annoying nits out of your hair (the article has over 100 comments)
Below are a few more photos of human lice, allowing you to get to know the appearance of these parasites in more detail:
Review
“When in September the child began to scratch his head, I thought that the bugs were biting him again - six months ago this happened, they only bit on the back and sides. Again they poisoned the apartment with Karbofos, they did everything well, but the scabies did not go away. Began to look closely and found nits. At first I didn’t believe it, I thought the lice had long since disappeared, I decided to see what a human louse looks like, and for sure - Andryusha had exactly the same ones on his head. I had to buy shampoo, put bags on my head and poison. Most likely, he picked them up at the summer camp. ”
Maria, Vologda
Reproduction of lice, their nits and larvae
The whole life and reproduction of lice takes place on the human body (or on his clothes - in the case of body lice). At the same time, there is no difference whether an adult or a child has lice - the features of their biology do not change from this.
An adult human louse lives up to 40 days and females lay eggs literally from the first day of their adult life.An egg, which is also a nit, is attached with special sticky mucus to the hairline, and after 5-6 days a larva is hatched from the nit, similar to a copy of an adult louse in miniature.
Up to 20-25 days, the louse larva feeds, molts several times and turns into an adult insect.
The photo below shows what a human louse larva looks like:
Body lice lay their eggs in the folds of clothing. This is where the development of the larvae takes place.
Lice larvae feed on blood, just like adult insects.
It is interesting
At temperatures below 22°C and above 40°C, human lice do not reproduce - larvae do not hatch from their eggs.
The larvae of all types of human lice appear transparent under a microscope and look like they have been stripped of their wings.
In pubic and head lice, adults darken a little, while in body lice they remain as light as nymphs.
How are human lice spread and transmitted?
Lice are most commonly transmitted through close contact with an infected person. Children are especially susceptible to infestation with lice, who easily contact each other and are deprived of special restrictions in games and fights.
Head lice can also be transmitted through combs, rubber bands and hairpins. Body lice can crawl from one thing to another when storing clothes together.
Pubic lice are transmitted almost exclusively through sexual intercourse. Only sometimes they can infect a person by falling on bedding and moving to the one who lies next on the bed. Such cases take place, for example, in cheap hotels.
On a note
Extremely rare, but there have been reports of louse being carried by water in swimming pools and public bathing areas. Lice are resistant to lack of oxygen and can survive in water for 2 days.
Now, knowing what lice look like, it will be easy for you to determine whether you or your children have been infected and take appropriate measures in time. At the same time, it is also useful to remember about simple preventive measures that will allow you to limit your acquaintance with human lice to only theoretical information.
What every civilized person needs to know about lice
About human lice and the diseases they can carry
How to choose a remedy for lice and nits?
Super article
Not that word
Girls, there is nothing better than a comb of nit fries and their remedies for head lice. No matter what I've tried, it's useless. Neat Free products helped the first time. So don't waste your money, buy what really helps.
In the hairdresser's, they found lice in me and disgraced me in front of other clients, it was unpleasant. Do they have the right to behave like this? And they have the right to refuse to get a haircut if a person has pediculosis? Tell.
Not
Do human lice jump over?
Yes, of course, lice tend to jump ((
NO! Human lice don't jump. Fleas jump on dogs and cats, and human lice can only crawl!
Yes
I'm horrified by this, I have no words
I never had lice, I saw them and started to vomit!
How to deal with these creatures?
I bought a spray at the pharmacy!
My God. I have not been able to get rid of lice for almost 2 months now. Can anyone tell me how to overcome them? Nothing helps me.
Ksenia, the pharmacy has a wonderful spray (made in France), I don’t remember the name. Spray on the roots, hair, wait 10 minutes, rinse with shampoo. Important! Process all used things, something in a bag for 3 days, iron something, and rewash something at 60 degrees.
Spray from lice and nits - this is Nyuda! Helped the first time
Is this one expensive?
687 rubles
First I found a healthy black louse in one daughter. I thought it was a flea - there are no nits, and the head is clean. Then I found the same one for my second daughter. I don’t understand what it is, there are no nits, the hair is blond, and the insects are black ... And, it seems, they don’t look like lice.
Maybe not lice, but for prevention it does not hurt to protect yourself!
If there are too many nits, then cut your hair.
No, you can't cut your hair!
The article is amazing! Very accessible, interesting and how relevant.My daughter is 9 years old, she has never encountered this before, I heard that someone has such garbage, but for this to happen to us ... I noticed that Sasha was itching for the second day, in the morning she began to braid her braids and saw an insect! It's just what a horror. Well, now I read it, bought different things, smeared my hair, and they are long. Let's wait for the result...
And we brought hellebore solution. It costs a penny, but the result is obvious))
Tell me, please, my classmate has lice and she can’t get rid of them. Already the whole class picked up, including me. I have poisoned and I will not go to school until she takes them out.