Causes of pediculosis, symptoms and treatment, prevention

Parents who have children know about pediculosis firsthand. In kindergarten, school and other educational institutions, there are often outbreaks of the disease. In this article we will give a detailed picture of this unpleasant disease, consider the causes, prevention, control measures, which, perhaps, people are not familiar with.

• Concept and types of pediculosis
• Head lice
• Baby lice
• Pubic lice
• Causes of pediculosis
• Signs of manifestation and its diagnosis
• How to deal with the disease
• Medications
• Folk remedies
• Preventive measures

Concept and types of pediculosis

Pediculosis is lice. In other words, the population of the human hair with insects is parasitic - lice. These are small insects reaching in sizes from 0.5 to 2 mm. The louse lays its eggs directly on the hair at a distance of 2-3 cm from the root, attaching them with a special secret, young lice appear from the eggs. The human louse feeds exclusively on blood, bites lice cause itching, can become inflamed with the appearance of pustular skin lesions, cause allergic reactions. Depending on the parasite and the localization, several types of pediculosis are distinguished.

Head lice

Each head louse, like a normal insect, has three stages of development: an egg, a larva, an adult (adult). The insect does not have wings and long legs for jumping, it can only creep.

Favorite habitats are the occipital, temporal and parietal parts of the head, since the skin in these areas is very sensitive and soft. With an external examination of the patient, one can find in these places the greatest accumulation of eggs (nits). They are very small, but they are distinguishable by ordinary eyes. Their feature is that the nits have a whitish color and are well distinguishable on dark hair.

The incubation period of lice and nits is slightly more than a week (9 days), that is, during this time the larva is able to hatch from the egg.

Important! Female lice live about 30-40 days, each day postponing up to 4 nits, respectively, for their lives the female lays up to 160 eggs.

Another feature of head lice is the inability to lay eggs at low temperatures. If the temperature regime of the environment is below 20 degrees, egg laying stops, the growth of the adult specimen slows down, and the existing larvae may die.

Baby lice

This species of parasites also feeds on human blood, but lives mainly in the folds and seams of linen and clothing. Their nits they attach to the pile of tissue or on the hairline of the human body. The louse is much larger and the eggs she lays much more - up to 400 pieces for life. The difference from head lice is a yellow spot on the body of an adult insect, as well as dwelling on a male breast covered with a strong shoot.

Pubic lice

These parasites are very lazy, unlike their relatives. They live on the skin of the pubis, eyelashes and eyebrows, in the inguinal zone, on the buttocks, in the armpits. Due to this, the number of future offspring is slightly more than 50 pieces. The insect body is less than 1 mm long, shortened, has a dark color.

Having studied the concept of pediculosis, it is worth noting that for a person it poses a serious danger.

Why are lice dangerous? Complications with advanced pediculosis can be in the form of:

• typhus or recurrent typhus;
• Volyn fever.

In general, the diseases are borne by the head and parasites.

Causes of pediculosis

The first mention of lice is known since the time of Aristotle. They always lived next to a person. Pediculosis can occur at any age, if there was contact with the patient. The most affected part of the population is children in organized children's groups (kindergartens, schools). The cause of the occurrence of pediculosis can be either:

1. If a healthy person used personal hygiene items of the patient: a towel, a comb, hair bands, hats, headscarves, etc. In this case, pediculosis is more likely to affect women. For example, in young girls with long hair, the appearance of lice is more likely than in children with short hair.
2. At the preschool age, lice are transmitted through close intercourse of children in kindergartens, sanatoria, camps, schools.
3. When you visit a hairdresser or a swimming pool, there is also the possibility of getting infected with lice.
4. For a long time in places of large concentrations of people. For example, in public transport.
5. The cause of pubic lice is an intimate affinity.

Many believe that this disease is a disease of the poor. But it is worth dispelling this myth, since no one is immune from close communication in close transport or in a club, in a cafe, etc. The development of the disease does not depend on the preference for any blood group, the color of the hair, the dyed or not colored hair. These parameters do not play a role, since the main food for the parasite is blood.

They will not jump at you from another person. Only with close contact of two heads, the louse is able to creep from one head to another, this will take several minutes, because the speed of an adult is slightly more than 20 cm per minute. That is why children and adolescents who are in children's institutions suffer more often with pediculosis, where direct contact with each other is inevitable, rather than vigilant adults who can avoid intimate communication.

Signs of manifestation and its diagnosis

The pediculosis clinic is as follows:

1. Strong itching of the head. Each mother, whose children suffered from pediculosis, noticed how repeatedly the child scratches its head. Particularly affects the places in the back and temporal part of the head. Every day the child increasingly combs the scalp, as the population of parasites increases, and hence the number of bites increases.
2. When examining the hair, nits are seen, located near the roots.
3. With a strong infection, the hair rolls down, it is difficult to comb them, they give off an unpleasant smell. It is also possible to entangle the hair and form the coils.
4. There is irritation of the skin behind the ears, on the neck, on the temples, on the back of the head.
5. If there is an infection with pubic or ward lice, then you can find red dots on the body in places of bites. The skin becomes dry and flaky.

In each children's educational institution, regular medical examinations are carried out, at which time children are found to have pediculosis. All carriers of lice are identified, which are sent for home treatment. The diagnosis is made by a dermatologist, who prescribes a course of therapy. After a certain time, the patient must re-enter the polyclinic. If the doctor is convinced of the absence of lice and nits, he will write out a certificate from which you can return to visit the kindergarten or school.

How to deal with the disease

When this disease is discovered, it is important for every person to know that pediculosis itself will not pass, it must be treated. Treatment can be carried out at home, but under the control of a dermatologist. When making a diagnosis, the doctor develops a plan of measures to combat pediculosis, which must be observed by the patient. Stay patient in the hospital is not required, treatment is performed on an outpatient basis.

Medications

Due to the wide selection of modern effective remedies for pediculosis, coping with the disease will not be difficult. These are all kinds of shampoos, sprays, ointments, infusions, etc. Modern pediculocides are the means in which there are chemical compounds that poison adult individuals that destroy nits.

1. The seawater is herbal infusion. The extract of the chamois negatively affects the nervous system of adult lice, but it is not able to destroy the nitric membrane and penetrate inside.
2. Prophylactic shampoo. Pedilin, Veda, Paranit, and others. Help in choosing the most high-quality and effective means you will have consultants in the pharmacy. They are used many times, until the complete elimination of parasites strictly according to the instructions that are attached to the package.
3. Lotions. Sold in small bubbles. As a rule, it is a concentrated liquid, therefore its use should be carried out strictly according to the instructions described in the instruction. The most common lotions are: Medifox, Nittifor. They are capable of destroying both adult lice and nits.
4. Creams very gently affect the skin of the patient, while effectively coping with the problem.
5. Spray is always easy to use. For example, Para Plus, which perfectly destroys insect parasites, without penetrating into the upper layers of the skin.

Before using one of the agents, an allergy test should be performed. If there is one, then the best option would be treatment with folk remedies.

Folk remedies

Many patients, by minimizing the harmful effects of chemicals on the body, often resort to traditional medicine recipes. And there are:

1. Infusion of elecampane. For 1 liter of boiled water take 5 tbsp. l. dry raw materials, mixed, insisted for 60 minutes and applied to the hair, then washed off.
2. A solution of vinegar. Prepare from the calculation of 1 part water and 3 parts vinegar. Apply the product with a small soft cloth or sponge on the hair, cover with a packet for 1 hour. Then the dead insects are combed out.
3. In the old days, healers wiped out lice with geraniums, as insects can not stand the smell of a flower. You should buy a geranium oil in a pharmacy and add a few drops to a normal shampoo.
4. The greenhouse effect with tar soap will also help kill parasites. Lather lather abundantly, wrap in a packet or a special cap to color the hair, hold for 1 hour, then rinse with warm water. To comb the insects with a scallop.
5. A solution of kerosene and vegetable oil (in a ratio of 1 to 12) is applied to the hair and left under the bag for the night. In the morning, rinse with warm water and shampoo.
6. Mayonnaise and hairspray. This mask is done in the following sequence: first, the hair is lubricated with mayonnaise, then it is sprayed with a varnish. Cover with polyethylene and leave for the night. With this procedure, the hairline is covered with an airtight film, so that the lice die. Next, the lacquer is washed off, and the lice are combed.

Every time after using any folk remedy, it is necessary to inspect for nits. They are very firmly glued to the hair, so require a mechanical removal or a frequent comb.

Preventive measures

Prevention is aimed at the timely detection of signs of pediculosis.

1. If your child is attending an educational institution, then whenever he comes home, look at his head for nits and lice.
2. Long hair for girls must be tightly braided.
3. Try, whenever possible, to avoid yourself and do not let the children communicate with people whose way of life is accompanied by non-compliance with simple rules of hygiene. Tell your children that you can not use someone else's clothes, headgear or personal household items (towels, combs, hair clips).
4. At each scheduled medical examination at a school or other educational institution, a dermatologist should conduct a conversation about the possible causes of pediculosis. The doctor should tell you how you can get infected with lice, what is the danger, how to determine them, what you need to do to protect yourself.
5. If one member of the family showed pediculosis, you should carefully examine the remaining tenants, remove him from communication.
6. Observance of personal hygiene: regular washing of the head, examination of girls with long hair.
7. Wet cleaning of the room.
8. To protect yourself from clothing lice, you must wear only your clothes, periodically wash and iron it.
9. When visiting large foci of pediculosis, pre-treat hair with special repellents.

Fulfilling all the sanitary rules for preventing the disease, you will protect your family as much as possible, but there is no complete certainty of "non-infection".

Do not neglect this disease, she will not pass. If all medical measures are taken into account, as well as preventive measures at home, at school and kindergarten, the disease can be avoided.