Types Of Lice
Lice are of three types:
Head Lice
The head louse is a grayish-white parasite about 2-3 mm in length. A female louse lives for about one month. During this period, she produces about seven to 10 eggs (“nits”) each day and attaches them firmly to the shaft of hair close to the scalp. These grayish-white nits, resembling dandruff, are attached to a water-insoluble, cement-like substance that makes it difficult to remove them. After seven to ten days, these oval-shaped nits (eggs) hatch as nymphs and become adult lice in 10 days.
The most common form of lice infestation is head lice. A report states that several million people in the world are infested each year. Children aged 3-10 years in daycare centers, preschool, and elementary school are more likely to get lice. Lice can affect all socioeconomic classes. Girls are more prone to lice infestation, but personal hygiene or hair length is not predictive factors. African Americans usually don’t get a lice infestation due to their unique hair characteristics.
Head-lice spread mostly via direct head-to-head contact. Sharing caps, headphones, combs/brushes, and pillows are notorious ways to spread head lice. The louse dies due to severe dehydration within two days if they do not feed on their human host. Therefore, contact with couches and carpeting is less commonly considered as a route of transmission. Mostly lice infestations do not cause any symptoms (i.e., they are asymptomatic). However, sometimes symptoms are present, like itching of the neck, scalp, and behind the ears is the most common symptom. Severe scratching may give rise to secondary skin infections (such as impetigo) and enlargement of the lymph nodes of the various regions of the scalp and neck.
The diagnosis is made by demonstrating nits or adult lice. Nits are mostly examined using a black light (“Wood’s light”) that causes them to appear as pale blue objects stuck to the hair shafts and the scalp. Running a fine-tooth comb through the hair will also demonstrate nits and adult lice.