Where did the head lice come from?

Head lice parasitic on humans over 80,000 years. This is the only species of obligate insects that do not leave the human body, but are constantly on it. A louse is a small bloodsucking insect, whose dimensions vary in the range of 0.6-6 mm. The state of lice is called pediculosis and consider it as a disease. Infestations with parasites are subject to all segments of the population. Therefore, the question of where lice are taken from a person on the head remains relevant for centuries.

Causes of lice

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

Lice and nits

On a note!

For ectoparasites characteristic rapid reproduction. The female lays eggs - nits, sticking them with sticky mass to the hair. During 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 do lice and nits on the hairshows a photo.

Nature has not rewarded 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 mobility does not prevent the spread among people. There are several reasons why lice appear on the head.

Contact with an infected person

Being at close range with a carrier of the parasite, the louse can easily crawl onto a new object. The process of infection with pediculosis occurs in public transport, in crowded places. Sometimes even one selfie is enough, in which people are closely pressed together to catch lice. This is especially acute for adolescents who are passionate about joint shooting.

On a note!

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

Things and care products

Things and care products

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

Lending girls hairbrushes, hairpins - one of the most likely versions, where children get lice on their heads. It is difficult for young fashionable women to refuse their friends and not to borrow their personal belongings to them.

On a note!

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

Feedback

She brought her daughter to the hairdresser, and the master said that she would not cut it, because the child has lice. It shocked me. It seemed to me that there was no such problem at all. From where they could come, because the daughter does not attend kindergarten, she washes her head every day. He walks only on the playground with the children, but their parents did not complain about the lice of their children.

Victoria, Alchevsk

Pools, standing ponds, baths

Pool and bath

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

Places with large crowds

After attending preschool, school institutions, kindergartens, summer, recreation camps in which pediculosis is common, there are lice in a child. Children become infected during games, joint rest, sleep. In social facilities, regular scheduled inspections are carried out on the subject of lice, but given the 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 - the sources of the spread of pediculosis.

Feedback

Upon arrival, her daughter from the camp began to notice that she was scratching her head. At first, she did not attach any importance to this, because she did not even assume that pediculosis happens in our days. And then I noticed a white scattering on my hair and revealed that it was nits. A week later I washed my daughter's head tar soap and daily combed nits metal fine comb.

Olga, Chertkovo

The most ridiculous assumptions about the occurrence of head lice

Although insects have lived side by side with a man 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 pediculosis can occur during natural disasters, military operations, population migration.

Fleas and lice

Unlike a fleaThe louse is devoted to its carrier and is not capable of moving 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 because of what lice appear:

1. Non-compliance with hygiene. Regular washing of the head has nothing to do with head lice infection. Lice and nits are infused both in clean people and in those who neglect water procedures. Parasites need blood, not dirt. In clean hair without the presence of greasy components, they feel even better, as nothing prevents their movement.
2. Lice appear on the nerve soil. 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 cannot appear only on the basis of unrest.
3. Lice live under the scalp and wait for the right moment.This statement does not hold water. Pediculosis is not a hereditary disease and in newborn babies no parasites have been identified under the scalp.
4. Defacement. Although this version has its fans, they are sure that lice are the result of negative energy, but reasonably people think this is utterly absurd.

Signs of Pediculosis

Lice in hair

The incubation period lasts 20-21 days. In the first days, until the parasites proliferated massively, their presence and lice bites may go unnoticed. When their numbers increase, the following symptoms appear:

• severe itching;
• the appearance of small wounds on the skin;
• inflammatory process in the hair follicles;
• hair sticking, the appearance of white lumps;
• irritability;
• sleep disorders;
• the appearance of ulcers, boils;
• the presence of adults and nits in the hair.

Pediculosis needs treatment. To do this, apply special lice productsthat are sold in pharmacies. They are issued in the form shampoo, sprays, concentrates, ointments. Mechanical combing is also carried out regularly by means of a comb.Adherents of alternative medicine prefer folk remedies. During the period pediculosis treatment Visiting of public places is contraindicated.