Where did the head lice come from

Lice parasitic on humans for more than 80,000 years. This is the only type of obligate insects that do not leave the human body, but are constantly on it. Louse is a small blood-sucking insect, the sizes of which vary in the range of 0.6-6 mm. The state of lice is called head lice and consider it as a disease. Parasite infestations affect all segments of the population. Therefore, the question of where lice come from in a person’s head remains relevant for centuries.

Causes of Lice

Head louse attached to the hair with the help of three pairs of developed tenacious legs. Since the arthropod feeds on blood, the place of its localization is mainly located at the base of the hair, from where it is most convenient to get to the blood vessels, capillaries. During feeding, the insect secretes saliva, which prevents blood clotting and causes severe itching in the victim.

On a note!

For ectoparasites is characteristic fast breeding. The female lays eggs - nits, sticking them with sticky mass to her hair. Over its short life, about 38 days, it gives life to several hundred individuals. The full development cycle from egg to imago lasts no more than 20 days. How lice and nits look on hairdemonstrates the photo.

Nature did not reward the parasite with jumping and flying skills. He can only crawl and moves at a speed of 10-20 cm per minute. However, such limited motor capabilities do not prevent distribution among people. There are several reasons why lice appear on the head.

Contact with an infected person

Being at close range with the carrier of the parasite, a louse can easily crawl to a new object. The process of pediculosis infection occurs in public transport, in places of mass crowding. Sometimes even one selfie is enough, in which people are closely pressed against each other in order to become infected with lice. This is especially acute for adolescents keen on joint filming.

On a note!

According to the Rospotrebnadzor, a sharp increase in lice was recorded among adolescents. Every day, the younger generation sticks to each other to take a picture on a mobile phone, thereby increasing the risk of spread of lice.

Things and care products

Sharing of hairbrushes, wearing hats, scarves with an infected person is one of the most common reasons where lice come from on the head. In the first days of infection, a person does not yet feel signs of the presence of foreign bodies, but this does not prevent adults from traveling, using objects in contact with the hairline as a vehicle.

Girls lending combs and hairpins is one of the most likely versions of where children get lice on their heads. It is difficult for young fashionistas to refuse friends and not to borrow their personal belongings from them.

On a note!

A visit to hairdressers is another option for how lice appear. Usually, when a pediculosis is detected, the master does not perform any work.But there are situations when the carelessness, negligence of the hairdresser leads to the fact that the procedure was carried out by an infected person, and subsequently by the same tool, to a healthy person.

Feedback

She brought her daughter to the hairdresser, and the master said that she would not cut it, because a child has lice. It shocked me. It seemed to me that such a problem does not exist at all. Where could they come from, because the daughter does not attend kindergarten, she washes her hair every day. He walks only on the playground with the children, but their parents did not complain about the liceiness of their children.

Victoria, Alchevsk

Pools, standing reservoirs, baths

It is proved that lice remain viablebeing in the water for several days. Therefore, bathing in baths, baths without changing the water, in a pool or a standing pond without a rubber cap often cause pediculosis.

Crowded places

After attending preschool, school facilities, kindergartens, summer, health camps in which pediculosis is common, there are lice in the child. Children become infected during games, recreation, sleep. In social facilities, a regular scheduled inspection for lice, but given a short incubation period and a large audience, these measures are not enough.

For the same reason, lice appear in an adult. Sanatoriums, prisons, hotels, hostels are the sources of the spread of head lice.

Feedback

Upon arrival of the daughter from the camp, she began to notice that she was scratching her head. At first, she didn’t attach any importance to this, because she didn’t even assume that pediculosis happens today. And then she noticed a white scattering on her hair and revealed that it was nits. A week later I washed my daughter’s head tar soap and daily combed nits shallow metal crest.

Olga, Chertkovo

The most ridiculous assumptions about the occurrence of pediculosis

Although insects have lived side by side with humans for many centuries, it is not known for certain where lice originally come from. Like all parasites, they spread from one object to another. Bursts of growth of head lice can occur during natural disasters, military operations, population migration.

Unlike flea, louse is devoted to its carrier and is not able to move from animals to humans and vice versa. Therefore, the presence of pets in the house has nothing to do with the lice of their owner.

The most common misconceptions due to which lice appear:

1. Non-compliance with hygiene. Regular shampooing is not related to pediculosis infection. Lice and nits are wound both in clean people and those who neglect water procedures. Parasites need blood, not dirt. In clean hair without the presence of sebaceous components, they feel even better, since nothing interferes with their movement.
2. Lice appear on nerves. The myth arose due to the similarity of symptoms: irritation, itching, restless sleep. But it should be understood that lice are living creatures and they are not able to appear only on the basis of unrest.
3. Lice live under the scalp and wait for the right moment. Such a statement does not hold water. Pediculosis is not a hereditary disease and no parasites under the scalp have been detected in newborn babies.
4. Spoilage. Although this version has its fans who are sure that lice are the result of negative energy, but sensibly people think this is completely absurd.

Signs of head lice

The incubation period lasts 20-21 days. In the early days, until the parasites massively bred, their presence and lice bites may go unnoticed. When their number increases, the following symptoms appear:

• severe itching;
• the appearance of small wounds on the skin;
• inflammatory process in the hair follicles;
• clumping of hair, the appearance of white lumps;
• irritability;
• sleep disturbances;
• the appearance of abscesses, boils;
• the presence of adults and nits in the hairline.

Pediculosis needs treatment.For this, special lice productsthat are sold in pharmacies. They are available as shampoos, spraysconcentrates ointments. Mechanical combing by means of a comb is also regularly conducted. Adherents of alternative medicine prefer folk remedies. During the period pediculosis treatment visiting public places is contraindicated.