Contents
What is pediculosis?
Pediculosis (lice) is a parasitic disease of the skin and hair. According to the latest data, over the past 10 years in Russia, from 220 to 300 people per 100 thousand of the population have been ill with this disease. In the capital in 2002, 791 cases were recorded for every 100 thousand of the population, children under 14 years of age accounted for 15% of cases. The most interesting thing is that the carriers of this disease are most often adults.
One of the reasons for the spread and development of pediculosis is singled out – this is a lot of refugees from the countries of the former USSR and, of course, homeless people. Lice are small, wingless insects that feed on human blood. The form of lice are flat, elongated-rhombic, on paws, with a small movable proboscis, due to which the insect is attached to something. Lice that have not yet drunk blood are grayish-brown in color, those that have drunk blood are red or black. It is necessary to eat these insects constantly, otherwise they die. Lice eggs are oval-shaped, pale yellow in color, up to 1 mm in size. After 4–9 days, a louse emerges from the egg. The female louse, living in the scalp of a person, has a size of 2,0–3,5 mm, the male is 2,0–3,0 mm. Females need to eat constantly, in small doses. For this reason, they cannot live longer than one day. In body louse, the female is 3,75–5,0 mm long, the male is 3,3–3,5 mm long. The nits of this type of lice are attached precisely to the pile of fabric.
Pediculosis Symptoms
Diagnosing pediculosis is simple: there are parasites on the patient’s skin, there are also nits on clothes, hair and underwear, the skin in the area where the lice are located is inflamed due to bites.
Other symptoms of pediculosis are endless itching – this is the skin’s response to lice bites. Itching is mild or unbearable, especially at night from body lice. It happens that the patient does not even feel the desire to scratch – this is a consequence of a chronic disease, a habit is developed. A rash on the skin from lice bites occurs after a while. Initially, “pruritic acute dermatitis” appears, small bright red papules, vesicles. Further, this process turns into chronic dermatitis, suppuration of papules occurs. Over time, a secondary infection occurs, which is accompanied by anemia. With pubic and body pediculosis, specific spots appear on the skin.
In the case when the patient has a severe stage of head lice, then a lump of tangled and sticky hair with the smell of rot is obtained on the head. Depending on the localization of lice and complications from this disease, the symptoms also differ. However, there are also patients in whom lice are located throughout the body, or there are clothing, pubic, and head parasites together.
Causes of pediculosis
It is important to know that these insects do not fly or jump, but move by running. This suggests that you can become infected through personal contact with the patient. Lice living in the head move from person to person through hair, especially long hair. Children are mostly at risk, as they are the most active, constantly in contact with each other during games, at school, at home, in children’s camps, kindergartens, change personal hygiene items – combs, towels. It is difficult to convince children that it is impossible to change hats.
A very remarkable fact is that an ordinary hairdresser can be the cause of pediculosis. Places such as a bathhouse, a pool, a train, a hospital can also become a place of infection with pediculosis. Body lice are transmitted in a slightly different way than hair lice. Body lice can be contracted through close household contact. Having settled in the folds of clothing, lice pass to human skin. You can become ill with pediculosis after using re-dirty linen or things. Pubic lice can be contracted through sexual contact. However, you can get infected with them only when using someone else’s towel, clothes or linen. Outside the body, the pubic louse lives for a very short time, no more than one day, although the eggs are more viable and live for another week.
Treatment of pediculosis
If a person has pediculosis, then treatment should be started immediately.
Here are a few reasons why you should get rid of lice as soon as you find them:
Pediculosis is a contagious disease. The sooner the lice are removed, the less the risk that other people will suffer.
The disease can lead to various complications, and early treatment will prevent these complications.
Pediculosis causes unpleasant symptoms, timely treatment makes it possible to quickly get rid of them.
There are several ways to treat pediculosis. Often combined therapy is carried out. The modern pharmacological market offers a variety of medications aimed at removing lice. However, they do not always fully cope with the task assigned to them. The fact is that parasites have the ability to develop resistance to chemicals. Therefore, it is necessary to navigate in all the variety of methods of treatment.
Chemicals
You can remove lice with the help of drugs such as:
Pedilin. The drug is based on a substance called malathion.
Parasidosis, Ithax shampoo. These drugs are based on a substance called phenothrin.
Medifox-gel pediculicidal, Medifox concentrate for the preparation of an emulsion 5%, Hygia shampoo, Nittifor, Nix cream. These drugs are based on a substance called permethrin.
Foxilon lotion. This tool is based on benzyl benzoate.
There are combination medicines on the market. One of the most effective is Para Plus. It contains malathion, permethrin and piperonyl butoxide.
All preparations for the destruction of lice are dispensed in a pharmacy without a prescription.
Treatment of hair and scalp should take place in strict accordance with the instructions for use. The drug is applied to the affected area 2 times with a break. The fact is that during the first application, only insect larvae die, and some eggs can remain active. Secondary processing makes it possible to destroy all the larvae that have already hatched by that time.
The drug is kept on the head from 10 minutes to 12 hours. After the drug is washed off, you need to carefully comb your hair with a comb. This will remove dead insects.
Insecticides do not always allow you to cope with pediculosis.
This is due to reasons such as:
Low sensitivity of parasites to the main active substance.
Non-compliance with the instructions for use.
Insufficient exposure time, or ignoring the recommendations for their re-application.
It should be borne in mind that the use of drugs to combat pediculosis does not reduce the risk of re-infection. Therefore, it is necessary to direct efforts to comply with preventive measures to prevent it.
Combing lice
Combing lice is an old way of dealing with insects. However, this does not mean that the technique has lost its effectiveness. You can cope with parasites by this method only if it is used four times within 14 days.
First you need to wash your hair, then apply conditioner to your hair with a thick layer. Then they take a comb with rare teeth and begin to comb them carefully. Together with the conditioner, lice will be combed out, so the comb must be washed. When the head is processed, the hair is dried and combed again, but with a comb with frequent teeth.
The combing procedure is repeated 4 times, that is, on days 1, 5, 9 and 13. This will allow you to comb out the lice at different stages of their life.
Other Treatments for Pediculosis
You can cope with pediculosis with the help of other methods of treatment.
These include:
The use of herbal products. These can be essential oils or plant extracts (anise, basil, rosemary, geranium, etc.). The effectiveness of these funds is not confirmed by official medicine.
Use of combs with batteries. Such devices kill lice with a discharge of current. The cost of a comb is quite high, but there is no guarantee that all insects will die. The device can only be used on dry hair.
Removal of lice and nits by hand. They are crushed with nails. It will not be possible to completely cope with the problem, since the insects are very mobile and a person may simply not notice them.
Shave head. This method of treatment is used to get rid of lice in groups, or in dysfunctional families.
Prevention of pediculosis
Pediculosis is a very unpleasant disease. No one would be happy with such a situation when you are talking with a person and you catch a surprised and intent look at your hair, through which lice walk. For this reason, precautions must be taken. The most important thing in the prevention of pediculosis is personal hygiene, bed and underwear should be clean, as lice do not like cleanliness. It is necessary to iron clothes thoroughly at the seams, since lice lay their eggs there. Don’t give your hairbrush to anyone.
It turns out that parasites really dislike the smell of lavender and tea tree. So if you apply this liquid to the back of the head and behind the ears, it will help not to get lice. If, nevertheless, you have been ill with pediculosis, then it is necessary to disinfect towels, hats, bed linen, clothes, soft toys, and then do not use them for two weeks. Without a person, a louse will live for another week, but if there were eggs, then the lice will come out in a week, so two weeks is enough to be sure that the lice are dead, since parasites cannot live without human blood supply. In order to verify the presence or absence of lice, you can comb your head with a special comb over a light surface, after which everything will become clear.