Archive for the 'Body Lice' Category

How did my child get lice?

headlice June 26th, 2008

The following is a response Licenders offered to an inquiry on the Topix Website. The questioner felt that her child got head lice while working at her garage sale. Since none of the other children presented with a lice infestation, the mom was wondering a child could catch lice from old clothing.

This is our response:

I assume you mean head lice, as opposed to body lice. The following only applies to head lice, which live only in human hair:

It is very easy, to catch lice. It is common among all children, regardless of race, class, or hygiene. The child may have caught lice a day or even a week before you became aware of it. The important thing is to treat the head lice right away, with a proper method, in order to get control right away:

1. You need a good, NON-Chemical Lice Shampoo. We can recommend Licenders Professional Shampoo (www.licenders.com). Over-the-counter products contain dangerous chemicals, and the bugs have become resistant to them.

2. You need a proper metal comb with very narrow teeth to remove every single nit. Without removing nits through combing, the infestation is still present, and will continue. This takes time, but is absolutely necessary. Licenders Lice Removal Comb works well, and is used daily by profession lice removal services (www.licenders.com)

Plastic combs do not catch every nit (lice egg). Short teeth will not get through enough of the hair to do a reasonable job. The comb should be made specifically for this purpose, with an ergonomic shape intended to support repetitious combing movements.

Proper Lice treatment involves maintenance for about 2 weeks after the initial treatment, to insure that the infestation is gone, and will not resurface. There are a few other worthwhile products that can support the combing and maintenance process.

In answer to your original inquiry:

The only way to get head lice from clothing, is if there is a live louse on the clothing which crawls onto a human head. Head Lice are parasites, and can only survive off of a human head for 1 - 2 days MAXIMUM. Likewise, stray hairs with mature nits on them can theoretically hatch off the head for 1 or 2 days, but the lice that hatch will die within a few hours unless they can feed on a human head.

Both of these scenarios is unlikely in a bag of old clothing, unless the clothing was worn by someone with an active lice infestation in the last 2 days.

I hope this information is helpful,
Good Luck!

Adie H

Lice Information From a Pediatrician (conclusion)

headlice June 11th, 2008

Dr. John Hong, a pediatrician from Charlottesville, Virginia, wrote an article about head lice and other pests. This is the conclusion of the article, posted with permission from the author:

continued from
Lice Information From a Pediatrician [part 1]
and Lice Information From a Pediatrician (Continued) [part 2] 

But like the nasty bed bugs haunting hotels, lice have become more resistant to topical medicines. So oral medications are sometimes needed, like ivermectin (Stromectol) or adding Bactrim to permethrin.

In South Pacific, Nellie says, "I'm gonna wash that man right out of my hair…" and that applies to [head lice] too. Sheets, carpet, couches, towels, clothes, hats– all need to be cleaned to prevent recontamination and contaminating other household members.

Body lice occur more in folks who are homeless or have poor hygiene. The lice live in clothing (in particular, seams) and then feed on the body-– in particular, the armpits and waist where the seams of the clothes are.

Pediculosis pubis is usually sexually transmitted– the creatures look like tiny translucent crabs, without the Old Bay seasoning. An adult female is 2-3mm long, lives about a month, and lays three eggs a day. The nits and lice hang out in the pubic region, but can go to the armpits and even eyelashes. Lice poop looks like brown dots on the skin, and little bruises can form from louse bites.

Lice are pretty horrible. I wonder if Andrew Zimmern, of Bizarre Foods, would ever eat them. Just make sure, if you eat dinner with him, that if he serves you fried rice, it isn't flied lice.

© Dr. John Hong, Inc

"Dr. Hook cracks a joke or two, but he's a renowned physician with a local practice." - THE HOOK, website on which Dr. Hong's article was originally published.

 

Lice Information from a Pediatrician

headlice June 4th, 2008

This article appeared on THE HOOK, the web site of a Charlottesville, Virginia Newspaper by the same name. It is posted here with permission from the author, Dr. John Hong, a reknowned physician with a local pediatric practice in Charlottesville.

  

DR. HOOK- Nit picking: Pediculosis can louse up a day
 

by JOHN HONG, MD
published 5/15/2008 12:00:00 AM

"I'm hairy noon and night. Hair that's a fright. I'm hairy high and low. Don't ask me why. Don't know" (Hair, the musical).

 

At my school, Denison University, when we produced Hair, they actually had a nude scene, though the lights were spinning all over the place, and I could tell a bum bum from a tum tum. But there was a lot of hair! What if some of it had lice?

 

Don't laugh! When I saw a different musical, Naked Men Singing, one guy had a fungal infection, tinea versicolor, and another was recovering from shingles. I almost jumped up on the stage to apply creams. Yikes!

 

Pediculosis is the medical term for lice, and there are three types: pediculosis humanus capitus (head lice), pediculosis corporis (body lice), and phthirus pubis (pubic lice, aka "crabs"– or in royal circles King Crabs– hmm). 

 

Head lice are most common in kiddies, and in fact lice is the #2 communicable disease in North American elementary school students! In 1997, one in four had head lice at some point. The louse doesn't jump or fly, so it's contracted by direct contact between folks– through sharing clothes, hats, combs, headphones, beds, towels, etc.
 
Even hanging jackets besides each other in the classroom can spread lice, because the louse can survive away from a human body for 55 hours.

 

To Be Continued

 

 

© Dr. John Hong, Inc

 

 

Body Lice and Head Lice: Different Lice Treatments

headlice February 27th, 2008

Previously, I posted a conversation overheard in a pharmacy, between the pharmacist and a customer. The customer was looking for an over the counter Lice Shampoo, but was confused. He therefore approached the pharmacist for information on prescription lice treatments. The symptoms he described were for body lice, not human head lice. This customer, had he not consulted with the pharmacist would have purchased a product with very potent and dangerous chemicals, available over the counter for treating head lice.

The moral(s) of this anecdote:

  • LICE INFORMATION is crucial, in order to properly treat the problem. Headlice Shampoo will not treat body lice. A dermatologist must be consulted for body lice. Fortunately, medical intervention is not needed for pediculosis capitis, human headlice. Although both kinds of pediculosis are human parasites, they are different. The bugs do look similar, but body lice are smaller. Human head lice can be easily treated without prescription formulas.  
     
  • Dangerous chemicals are being used for treating head lice. Your head is one of the most absorbent parts of the body. Since chemicals are becoming less and less effective in treating hair lice and nits, the chemical lice treatment products are increasing their concentrations of these chemicals! Read the ingredients. Do your research. Fight back! Non-Chemical Lice Shampoo is available. Why resort to chemicals?

Lice Information: Overheard in the Pharmacy

headlice February 25th, 2008

Last week a friend of mine was in the pharmacy for some routine purchases. He noticed a gentleman looking at a display of lice removal shampoos. The customer picked up each lice product, examined the box, and put it back on the shelf. When he had looked at every available lice treatment product, he seemed quite perplexed. This is not surprising. These products promise all sorts of quick fixes, and it's hard to tell what the difference is between them.

Apparently confused, the gentleman approached the pharmacist for some help. This is the conversation my friend overheard:

Customer: I need to treat lice.
Pharmacist: There are many products for treating lice.
Customer: what is the difference between them?
Pharmacist: You need to read the active ingredients.
Customer: They seem to be full of chemicals.
Pharmacist: Yes, these products use strong chemicals to kill lice. Each product uses different chemicals, in different concentrations.
Customer: But they all kill lice?
Pharmacist: That's what they say on the box!
Customer: Are there other products? like soap? They all are called lice shampoo!?
Pharmacist: Well, you have to wash your hair with it, in order to kill the lice.
Customer: How do I kill the ones that aren't on my head?
Pharmacist: If they are not on your head, why do you think they are lice?
Customer: Well my whole body is itching. I have itchy red patches all over. It seems odd to wash my whole body with shampoo.
Pharmacist: You have body lice! These chemical lice shampoos are specifically made for human head lice (pediculus humanus capitis). If you have body lice, you need to go to a dermatologist right away and get a prescription for body lice (pediculus humanus).
Customer: Oh. I didn't know there was a difference.

Body Lice Conclusion

headlice March 6th, 2007

The beginning symptoms of body lice include itching of the infested area.  As stated earlier, it will be more of a nuisance to begin with.  The longer it goes untreated, the more severe of a problem you will have to deal with.  Severe scratching can lead to secondary bacterial infections in the infested area.  In the most extreme cases, it is possible to spread certain diseases like trench fever and epidemic typhus.

Body lice can spread from close contact with others or by sharing clothing since body lice occur on clothing.  You can avoid spreading body lice by not sharing articles of clothing and getting all clothing dry cleaned.  You may want to consider dry cleaning furniture or sealing smaller articles in plastic bags for at least 10 days.

It is important that you are familiar with body lice and the severity that it can develop into.  It is the only type of louse that can spread diseases and fevers, which makes it that much more vital to be aware of.  At the first sign of extreme itching, which could potentially take 2 weeks, you should seek a physician for immediate treatment.  The quicker you treat body lice, the quicker you will rid yourself of the nagging species.

The Basics To Body Lice

headlice March 1st, 2007

Many are familiar with head lice, especially parents, but body lice are something that often goes unnoticed.  There is no question that head lice are more common, especially since it has reached an epidemic level in the United States.  However, body lice can become just as serious an issue as any other form of louse.
    
Pediculosis is an infestation of lice.  Unlike head lice, which spreads among hair on the head, body lice infestations occur on clothing.  They are especially relevant along the seams of the inner surfaces of clothing close to the skin.  The louse then feed on human blood, which can cause severe itching.

Another form of louse that many consider body lice is pubic lice.  Much like head lice, pubic lice infest hairy parts of the body including the groin, eyebrows, eyelashes and facial hair.  Just like body lice, pubic lice feed on human blood as well.  In the beginning it will cause itching and be an annoyance, but the longer it is untreated the worse the itching will become, eventually causing rashes.

Anyone can become infested with body lice regardless of age, sex or race.  You may know that head lice can infest even the cleanest most sanitary people or places.  On the other hand, body lice tend to infest people living in crowded and unsanitary places.  Body lice feed on people that wear clothing several days in a row without laundering them.  Many times you will hear body lice associated with the homeless.

In the next post I will discuss the common symptoms of body lice and how to know if you might be infected.