How to get rid of bed lice at home

Linen lice - a type of human ectoparasites. They do not live on the human body all the time, but because of this their neighborhood does not become less pleasant. Small insects pose a potential threat to health: they suffer from typhus, and their bites cause allergic reactions.

How to distinguish parasites

According to scientists, lice there are as many years as mankind. Linen parasites appeared somewhat later, when Neanderthals began to wear clothes. A new habitat has provoked the emergence of a separate species of human lice. The mass distribution of parasitic insects is observed under adverse sanitary conditions, so most people do not know what the laundry lice look like.

Insects are small in size:

• sizes of females range from 2 to 5 mm;
• male calf length varies in the range of 2-4 mm.

Linen lice

The color of gray tones as it is saturated may change to red. Flat little body covered with transparent chitin. Thanks to this, under a microscope, you can see how bed lice look in the process of feeding, how their abdomen increases and becomes scarlet.

Due to the small size and food preferences, lice can often be confused with other bloodsuckers:

• the main difference from a flea - inability to jump;
• from bed bugs - chaotic arrangement of bites;
• dwelling outside the body of the victim is the main feature, what distinguishes the laundry head lice, the latter constantly live on a person.

On a note!

Item lice, bedding, linen, clothes - popular names for one type of parasite, which biologists classify as cootie.

Parasites live in folds of clothes, in linen, bedding. You can find them in old pillows, blankets, upholstery of the sofa. Prefer cotton, linen fabrics. The structure of the legs does not allow you to comfortably move and live in fur things, human hair. Below is a photo of bed lice crawling on clothes.

How pests feed

The parasite menu consists of one dish - human blood. He does not accept diversity in the diet and the blood of animals, birds are not interesting for him. On dogs, cats can parasitize their types of lice. The main feature of this family is that they are loyal to their wearer and do not transfer from one type of warm-blooded to another. Therefore, the possibility of human infection pediculosis from animals completely excluded.

On the photo of the lice under the head, the antennae are visible. They perform the role of an olfactory organ that attracts the smell of glands located on the human body.Having identified its prey, the insect pierces the skin and injects an enzyme that promotes blood clotting. During the meal, the parasite partially implants its head in the wound.

Linen lice

Interesting!

During one meal, an adult individual drinks 0.001-0.003 ml. This is an impressive amount, given that its own weight does not exceed 1 mg.

Clothes lice feed 2-3 times a day, young larvae up to 8 times. In the absence of a power source lice live no more than 2 days. For this reason, those people who wear clothes for a long time and do not make a daily change of underwear often suffer from ward lice.

How long lice live also depends on the ambient temperature. Under optimal conditions: temperature conditions + 25-32 ° C, the life span of an adult individual is 35-45 days. Without a food supply and lowering the temperature to + 7 ° С, the laundry louse can live no more than 7 days. In the water, the insect remains viable for 2 days.

Feedback

I had a chance to somehow go by train from Kharkov to Novosibirsk. The road was long and long - almost five days. In the same compartment with me was a mother with two children. In appearance, it was noticeable that the mother does not burden herself with cares. The children were in some kind of red blistering and constantly itched.On the third day I began to notice that I had an itch. I wrote it off for the lack of high-quality water procedures - where they come from in our "soviet" cars.

Only when I got to the place, I was able to see how much I was bitten. The entire back and abdomen were thickly dotted with small red swellings. I was frightened and immediately went to a dermatologist, who identified the culprits. They turned out to be laundry lice, and I picked up the parasites in the car. The fight against linen lice did not last long - the doctor appointed a special pediculicidal shampoo, and I rubbed all the things in hot water and ironed it with iron, the benefit of the luggage was a bit.

Andrey, Raisin

Breeding

Nits

Upon reaching the adult state, the parasite of the parasite mates and 2 days after fertilization begins to lay eggs, which are called nits. Their sizes are so small that it is very difficult to see them with the naked eye. The egg is a 1mm oval capsule with a pale yellow color. The top is crowned with a lid through which the larva hatches. To pile fastens the glue weight. Each female individual lays up to 400 eggs in its life.

After 7-14 days, the larva appears in need of active feeding. It differs from parents only in size. In the process of maturation, it undergoes 3 molts - it renews the chitinous cover, after which it becomes a mature specimen and is ready to breeding.

Interesting!

The female is able to lay eggs without insemination of the male. But in this case they are empty.

Often there are disputes regarding how long the laundry nits die without power. However, the question is not quite correct. Being in the egg, the embryo does not feed. Its development depends on the temperature regime. When the temperature drops to + 20 ° С and the moisture content drops to 20-30%, development stops. Nits die instantly at a temperature of + 60 ° C and below minus 10 ° C. The same temperatures are critical for adults.

How to identify underwear lice

Louse bites

The main symptom of infection with lice - bites. Parasites bite relatively painlessly, as their saliva contains an anesthetic enzyme. A red blister appears on the affected area with a puncture point in the center. At the time of bloodsucking, only a slight tingling is felt, later it develops into severe itching.Insects can bite in the back, waist, arms, legs, axilla - any parts of the body that are in contact with the folds of linen, the seams of clothing.

Additional stages appear in advanced stages. headache symptoms:

• bluish swelling;
• pigmentation;
• furunculosis develops;
• dermis thickens.

Important!

Duffel lice tolerate typhus and relapsing fever. When the body temperature rises to 40 ° C, fever, headache, chills, vomiting, the appearance of hallucinations, you should seek help from a medical institution.

If you suspect the appearance of underwear lice, you should arm yourself with a magnifying glass and carefully examine clothes that are exposed to daily wear, underwear, and sleeping places in an apartment or house, as sometimes colonies of underwear lice are found in secluded corners of the bed, especially if it is rarely washed.

Even the cleanest housewives can detect parasites, because it is impossible to completely isolate from the outside world. The main sources from which laundry louses come from:

• contact with an infected person;
• places of numerous crowds;
• beaches, standing ponds - lice can be found both in the water and on the sand;
• fitting, wearing a carrier lingerie carrier.

Removing underwear lice at home

Quickly bring underwear lice is quite simple, since they do not live on a person and live only on things that are subject to frequent wear. The treatment of ward lice is to conduct the following activities:

1. Hygienic procedure using tar soap or shampoo. This cheap natural remedy has disinfecting properties, eliminates itching.
   
   

   Disinfectants
2. To eliminate the burning sensation, accelerate the healing of wounds, you can use the ointment Asterisk, Rescuer, antibacterial drugs.
3. If an allergic reaction occurs, take an antihistamine.
4. Processing of the apartment and things.

Considering the temperature at which the laundry lice die, it is possible to remove the parasites without the help of insecticides:

• washing clothes, bed linen at temperatures above 50 ° C;
• freezing in the freezer; for this, contaminated items are pre-packed in a bag;
• steam generator treatment;
• two weeks of weathering clothes on the balcony, the street at any temperature.

Even if it is not possible to wash things, take them outside, it is enough to place the entire infected wardrobe in airtight bags and keep it in quarantine mode for 2 weeks. During this period, insects will be able to hatch themselves without human participation. There is no easier way to get rid of underwear lice at home.