How to check if a child has lice. How to know that lice symptoms have appeared? Common symptoms at the initial stage of infection

In order to clearly understand how to recognize the signs of pediculosis and by what means to fight, you need to "get acquainted" with the culprits. The enemy, as they say, must be known by sight.

Signs of lice

In space, the insect is guided by smell - short antennae are responsible for the sense of smell.

The louse has needles hooks and anchors to easily pierce the skin and attach firmly

These insects live on average 38 days and are distributed, alas, all over the world. Females lay hundreds of eggs (nits) and, using a sticky substance that they secrete themselves, stick them to their hair or threads of clothing. The development period of the embryo depends on the temperature environment: at +36 ... +37 ° С - from 4 to 8 days, at +23 ° С - about 16 days. If the temperature is below +22 °C or above +40 °C, then the larvae do not appear, and adult lice begin to die. An adult is able to do without food for about 10 days.

Types of diseases

Pediculosis

Mixed pediculosis may also occur, when, for example, infection with head and linen lice occurs at the same time. In its advanced form, pediculosis can lead to dermatitis - serious lesions of the skin.

Symptoms

Understanding whether there are signs of lice in adults or children is not easy at first. Practice shows that at first they are so implicit and insignificant that even a person who is attentive to himself may not notice them. But you can find out if there are lice within a few days after infection.

Lice are translucent and hide well near the hair roots. So, we are looking for symptoms of lice. You can learn about how pediculosis manifests itself and about its stages by watching this video:

First you need to very carefully examine the surface of the skin and hair, spreading them with your fingers. Insects are usually found either within a few millimeters of the hair roots or on the skin. There may be nits that look like white dots on the hair. Red bite marks will also be noticeable.

With pediculosis, the symptoms can be very diverse. The first visible sign of lice is the constant scratching of the area where the lice bite. At the same time, a slight prick is felt, similar to a mosquito.

If several lice bite, then usually a person does not pay attention to itching. Severe discomfort appears when there are already several dozen or more insects.

Severe itching appears only when the lice have spread over the head

How to identify itching in another person, especially in a child? It is easy to recognize it by specific changes in behavior: a person affected by pediculosis constantly itches and pulls his hair, straightens and combs it.

When infected, babies are naughty and cry for no reason.

The characteristic behavior of a person possibly infected with pediculosis must be noticed in in public places. Even if the insects themselves are not noticeable, it is still not worth getting too close to it: it is easy to get lice with lice even through contact with clothing or hair. If your child complains about a classmate who constantly scratches his head, it makes sense to report this to the teacher and to the school health center. How to defeat biting creatures, see this video:

It is much easier for a carrier to learn about pubic lice. Here itching is a much more obvious symptom than on the head, since it can itch even from a hat or a nervous breakdown. The infected person himself is capable of diagnosing pubic lice, after a thorough examination.

Linen louse, unlike the head and pubic louse, bites areas of the body under clothing, regardless of the presence of hair there.

She attaches her larvae to the threads of her clothes. The risk of becoming infected with linen lice in our time is much lower than other species.

Presence of bites

Other obvious signs of lice are bites. Small, punctate bite marks usually appear on the skin, with a closed hole in the middle, visually very similar to flea infestation marks. With progressive pediculosis, lice bites combine into extensive redness and may extend beyond the hairy surface. Outwardly, the skin looks as if dermatitis is progressing on it.

From constantly itchy bites and scratches, the skin becomes inflamed

The integrity of the skin, in addition to multiple bites merging into large single areas, is probably broken due to mechanical impact. Due to injury to the stratum corneum of the epidermis by nails, characteristic scratches appear, on which crusts quickly form.

In places of constant bites, gray-blue spots appear - this is also characteristic symptom pediculosis.

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Bonding hair

It is not excluded cases of the development of symptoms of pediculosis in the absence of the opportunity to wash your hair regularly - this extreme conditions, emergencies, vagrancy. Then the hair sticks together quickly and untidy sticky strands form. This is also a clear sign of lice infestation. Why do strands stick together? This is due to the sticky secret that the female secretes to attach the egg to the hair. Nits are securely fixed, and if during the process of attachment the female holds on to several hairs, then they all stick together. In the advanced stage of pediculosis, the number of sticky strands is constantly increasing.

Hair glues the secret, thanks to which the nits firmly adhere to the hair

In areas with affected hair, dandruff accumulates and there is no necessary ventilation, so the skin there may itch and not from lice. Unwashed, uncombed hair falls into inseparable strands and without lice, however, as an indirect sign of lice infection, this external symptom cannot be ignored.

Larvae and traces of lice

Nits are a symptom of lice even more obvious than itching or bites, because it is impossible to confuse these eggs with other phenomena. If there are numerous nits, it means that lice have definitely spread: this is the most reliable sign.

Nits - elongated spindle-shaped white capsules, lice eggs. Their dimensions do not exceed 0.6 - 0.8 mm. In one day, one sexually mature female can lay eggs after each feeding. The secret secreted by her when laying eggs serves not only to attach to the hair. It envelops the entire egg and hardens, forming a strong shell and reliable protection.

Nits are easy to spot when combing out

There is a hole in the upper part of the capsule in which the larva develops. Through it, a mature individual gets out. When the larva is born, the empty white shell remains on the hair for a long time. These are the so-called dry nits. You can see what the nits look like in this video:

Of course, than longer man infested with lice, the more noticeable the nits will be. With advanced pediculosis, a person's hair looks like it is sprinkled with white groats.

Lice excrement, which looks like tiny dark dots, also remains on the hair.

It is difficult to see them on the strands, but it is impossible not to notice the mass crumbling on a pillow or sheet.

Since linen lice spend most of their lives on clothes, they leave their shells of nits in the same place. Especially well they are distinguishable on dark fabric.

Lice: causes of appearance

Pediculosis does not appear “from nerves”.

Lice cannot be infected from cats and dogs: insects are adapted only to life on a person. They, unlike, say, worms, cannot have other owners. Therefore, it is also impossible to become infected with them through food. Lice can neither fly nor jump far (like fleas), nor run fast.

You can only get lice from a person

Causes and methods of infection with pediculosis

There are many ways to transmit lice from person to person, depending on the situation and type of pediculosis. Children are at particular risk.

Nits on the victim's hair appear almost immediately after an adult female hits them. Nits themselves are not transmitted or spread from host to host. Even if a hair infected with nits gets on the head of a healthy person, the likelihood that pediculosis will begin to progress is practically excluded: the reasons for this are simple - single individuals cannot reproduce.

Lice are transmitted through close body contact or through hygiene items or clothing.

The main cause of pediculosis is bodily contact (hugs, games, wrestling, kissing), that is, any case of touching the heads of the infected and infected. In children's companies and institutions, lice spread instantly: joint games, fights, direct communication contribute to this.

It must be understood that very often the cause of infection is not a violation of sanitary and hygienic norms or rules. Lice settle in children who take care of themselves, and in those who rarely wash.

Lice can be transmitted through combs, bedding, towels. Cases of infection through hats, especially fur hats, are common. Lice do not distinguish between human and fur hairs, so they can remain on the headdress.

Lice are able to do without oxygen for a long time and easily endure even a long stay in the water. Therefore, bathing without changing the water in bathrooms or baths is a very risky occupation.

Especially strong concern is the following fact: with such a transmission, lice often appear in children, and even in atypical places, for example, on eyelashes and eyebrows.

Lice can live anywhere where there is hair.

Factors contributing to the spread of lice are most often: low level society as a whole and non-observance of elementary rules of individual hygiene, as well as promiscuity.

Pediculosis usually occurs in winter period when people spend most of their time indoors in fairly close contact with each other.

The risk is highest in early autumn, when children who become infected in the summer come to school, and in early spring, when the population begins to go out more in large numbers.

A person can be subjected to "attacks" of three types of lice:

AT laboratory conditions these varieties interbreed, give fertile offspring, however, in the natural environment, insects exist in isolation from each other.

What is the difference

The louse is a gray-brown bug with a size of 0.4-6 mm, with six legs. A nit is a louse egg covered with a special shell. The "cocoon" has a spindle shape and a "lid" through which the mature larva exits the capsule. Below is a belt that wraps around the egg and the hair to which it is attached. The length of the nit is 0.7-0.8 mm, the diameter of the capsule is about 0.4 mm.

Outside the head of a person, lice live no more than two days - this is how long they can last without food. If the ambient temperature drops to 10-12 ° C, pests can "stretch" longer - about ten days.

Life cycle of insects

The life cycle of the head louse that lives in human hair consists of four stages.

Fertilization and oviposition

A louse is capable of producing offspring, the age of which is about two weeks. After fertilization by the male and the "meal", the female lays eggs. It happens like this.

• Egg maturation. While the louse moves up the hair, an egg descends through the oviduct in the body of the insect, passing through the glands that cover it with a special composition.
• Egg exit. Through the secret, the egg, leaving through the anus, is attached to the hair at a distance of 2-3 cm from the root.
• Hair attachment. After a few minutes, the shell becomes so strong that it is not possible to remove the nits from the curl even with nails.

The louse chooses free hair for laying eggs. There can be more than one nit on one curl, only if there are a lot of insects.

Larval development

In a cocoon, the larva develops in five to eight days. Maturing time depends on environmental conditions. For nits, the most favorable temperature is 33 ° C. When the indicator drops to 22 ° C or rises to 40 ° C, the development of the insect stops.

At a temperature of more than 45 ° C, the larva dies; at 0 ° C, it can survive for two to three months. However, even in winter, the temperature of the human scalp rarely drops below 25 ° C, so lice can successfully develop all year round.

Exit from the capsule

The mature larva squeezes the cover of the "cocoon" and begins to breathe. Inhaled air passes through the esophagus of the insect and, leaving through the anus, accumulates in the lower part of the shell. Under the action of pressure, the larva is pushed out of the cocoon. The process of "birth" takes only a few minutes.

Transformation into an adult

The larva emerging from the egg resembles an adult, but is smaller in size and is not capable of producing offspring. Within 14-16 days the insect grows, during this period there are three molts. After the latter, the pest is able to reproduce, which it does, mating almost immediately with an individual of the opposite sex.

Lice multiply on a person's head very quickly. Each female at favorable conditions lays about ten eggs a day.

What is dangerous pediculosis for humans

1. The risk of contracting dangerous diseases. Pests are carriers of typhus, trench fever, but in modern conditions this rarely happens.
2. The likelihood of wound infection. Lice leave bite marks on the skin, through which infection can enter the bloodstream.
3. Dermatological lesions. Bite marks provoke the appearance of bluish spots, allergic reactions, sometimes - pustular formations and pyoderma.
4. Discomfort. Finding lice on the head is associated with constant itching and burning.
5. Difficulty in social contacts. When communicating with other people, a person who has lice in his hair feels awkward. In addition, it is dangerous to others, since the risk of infection is high.

How can you "catch"

How do people get lice and how do you know if there are lice on your head? Doctors have found out where lice come from in a person, and how they crawl from a “sick” head to a “healthy” one. Two ways of infection with pediculosis have been identified.

1. From person to person. Most often, insects are transmitted in this way. This happens if people share the same bed, sit close to each other.
2. Through personal hygiene items and clothing. When sharing towels, combs, hairpins and rubber bands, pests also "travel" from head to head. You can become infected by wearing a hat, hooded jacket, or other clothing worn by a person with lice.

Nits, unlike lice, can be transmitted from person to person in exceptional cases, as they are firmly attached to the hair.

"Risk" public places

You can pick up lice anywhere by close contact with an infected person or by using his personal belongings. Most often this happens in:

• schools;
• kindergartens;
• public transport;
• cinemas.

Pediculosis can be contracted even in public bathing places, such as a swimming pool. In poor areas of India, infection often occurs while swimming in the river.

Common myths

Some word of mouth information about lice is wrong. Here are five of the most common myths.

There is an opinion that lice can appear on nervous ground. Oddly enough, this is partly true. There is evidence that insects are more likely to "attack" those who are prone to anxiety and worries. In such people, the blood pulsates strongly, the excessive sweating process, the smell of their body is attractive to insects.

Incubation period

When lice "settle" on the head, they begin to bite immediately, however, with a small number of insects, a person does not give discomfort special significance. Only after three to four weeks, when there are a lot of pests, the signs of their presence become noticeable.

How to detect uninvited "guests" ...

The very first sign of head lice is itchy skin. After a pest bite, a wound is formed into which its saliva enters, causing irritation. When there are few lice, the itching is insignificant, it is rarely associated with the presence of insects. However, the more they become, the more unbearable these sensations are.

The appearance of itching does not mean infection with pediculosis; only the detection of insects and nits can confirm the diagnosis. Adult lice are quite difficult to see: they live on the skin and move quickly. Most often, nits are found first. You can see light capsules with eggs with the naked eye, they are especially noticeable on dark straight hair. Nits are sometimes mistaken for dandruff.

... and distinguish from dandruff

There are four ways to distinguish dandruff from nits.

1. Quantity. The amount of dandruff is always about the same, while the number of nits is increasing day by day.
2. Appearance. Dandruff flakes can be of various sizes, reaching 5 mm, the size of nits is approximately the same - no more than 0.8 mm. On closer examination, a dark egg can be seen through the shell of the nit, the empty capsule has a yellow or gray shade. Dandruff is always uniformly white in color.
3. Sound. If you press on the nits, you can hear a characteristic click.
4. The quality of the "clutch". Dandruff can be easily brushed off curls, while nits are firmly connected to the hair.

How to do a head exam

Finding lice can be difficult, especially if the hair is light and curly, or there are not so many pests yet. You can look at the photo on the Internet how they look. Pictures and photos will not always be able to show how lice spread. The only one the right way– Combing with a special comb with frequent teeth. They can be white or black. What a nit looks like can be seen under a microscope. But it is advisable to entrust the examination to the medical staff, but you can carry out the procedure at home.

How to act

1. Settle in a well-lit area.
2. Comb your hair with a regular comb, dividing the tangled curls.
3. Comb one strand with a special comb with frequent teeth.
4. Immediately after combing, wipe the tool with a white napkin or cotton pad: lice and nits will be noticeable on a light background if they are present on the head.
5. Comb several strands in this way.

The appearance of lice gives a lot of trouble to a person. Lice is not an indicator of negligence and lack of hygiene, because they are very picky about the cleanliness of their hair when choosing a home. But, how to understand that you have lice?

The found area, reddened from insect bites, does not yet prove that there are lice on the head. But how to check if you have lice? You should carefully inspect the hair for the presence of lice and nits. To do this, you need to comb your hair so that it is not tangled, and then run a comb with fine teeth through the strands. The entire inspection procedure should be carried out in good light.

Types of lice

Lice look like fleas, but fleas jump from prey to prey, while lice only quickly run from place to place. Lice do not have a wing, so they cannot fly. There are 3 types of lice: head, pubic and body lice. Each of them differs from others in their habitat. The head one, as the name implies, found a home for itself in a person’s head, the pubic one - in the groin, the clothes one - on clothes, bed linen and other tissues. But the habitat is not the only sign by which one louse can be distinguished from another.

Representatives of the head type have a length of no more than 4 mm and, as a rule, are colorless. Only after saturation with blood, the color changes to reddish or brown.

Clothes, or linen louse appears only in case of large-scale pollution. Its length does not exceed 4 mm, and its body is yellowish-white. Such an insect is nocturnal and, as a rule, lives in pockets and folds of clothing. This type of lice differs from the head lice in that its paws are more tenacious - this allows them to cling more tightly to the fabric. Severe itching and white plaque on the skin - sure sign that body lice have infested. Their bites are easy to notice, because. they appear in places where there is no hair, and look quite pronounced.

Life cycle of lice

Ways to get rid of lice

From head lice used radical, but effective method- shaved head bald. But part with long hair who have grown over the years, too hard. So modern methods getting rid of head lice are more loyal than in years past. First of all, the actions should be aimed at dissolving the glue that holds the nits on the hair. To do this, for example, you can use table vinegar, which must be applied to wet hair and covered plastic bag for 10-15 minutes. Then rinse your hair and start combing out the nits with a comb with fine teeth. The procedure should not be single, so be sure to repeat it after 7-10 days. But this method can cause an allergic reaction, so it is undesirable to use it to treat pediculosis in a child.

Kerosene - effective remedy who are also not recommended to treat pediculosis in children, because. it can cause burns on the skin and intoxication of the body. Adults use it in combination with sunflower oil, which must be applied to the hair and also cover the head with a plastic bag for 40-60 minutes or overnight. Then you need to thoroughly rinse your hair, and after that you can start combing out the nits and lice.

If there is any doubt about the use listed ways treatment, you should seek help from a doctor who will prescribe all necessary funds. For example, drugs such as Pedilin, Parasidosis or Nittifor are usually prescribed. They also use special shampoos that can remove both lice and their eggs. But the disadvantage of such shampoos is that some of the nits may remain on the hair, so you have to find and destroy them manually, squeezing them with your nails.

Preventive measures

As a preventive measure, you must remember a few rules of hygiene: wash your hair as it gets dirty, do not use other people's combs, do not try on other people's hats and other head accessories. It will be useful to periodically visit the doctor's office so that you can find out in time if you have lice. All these rules must be instilled in children from an early age.

When the focus of the pediculosis disease is known, for example, it can be a kindergarten, you need to inform all employees and the director of the garden that it is necessary to appoint a quarantine and conduct sanitization rooms of the entire building. If this is not done and the kindergarten continues to work, there is a risk of finding lice again, and all treatment will be useless flour for parents and the child.

It is important to remember that there is nothing shameful in this disease. It is imperative to seek help if lice or symptoms of infection appear in order to identify this problem in time and begin treatment immediately. Remember to follow all recommendations for the prevention of this disease.

A parasitic disease that can be epidemic in nature and pose a danger to all social and age categories of the population. How to understand that you have lice is capable of everyone who has already encountered such a problem at least once in his life. After all, it is almost impossible to forget about the unpleasant sensations that cause great discomfort. Knowing how to detect lice, there is a chance to prevent the spread of the disease in the early stages.

Varieties of lice

The causative agents of pediculosis that affects the human body can be 3. They can be distinguished as appearance, and by habitat:

According to statistics, head lice is the most common form of the disease among the population. Lice living on the head can “choose” a new victim during close contact with a person infected with head lice, when using infected hair care products, or while trying on other people's hats. The fact that lice are wound up on the head is indicated by a number of signs.

Itching

On a note!

To get full, insects inject a special substance into the wound that prevents blood clotting. It is this that has an irritating effect on human skin, causing itching after.

nits

Nits are often found in the root zone of the hairline. They are attached to the hair with a special adhesive secret. It is secreted by the female when laying eggs. In connection with this, it is very difficult to remove future offspring from the hair, which is the main thing.

Lice

• they are small grayish-colored insects that look like;
• however, their body size is much smaller: on average, in an adult, it is about 2 mm;
• the saturated pest acquires a gray-brown color.

bites

You can also determine the presence of lice on the head by bites. They have a bright pink color and a red center. On the initial stage infections, such damage to the skin can be single, in the advanced form of pediculosis, their number becomes very impressive.

Multiple bites on a person's head cause severe itching, the consequence of which is wounds and swelling. And getting into the places of pathogens damaged by scratching contributes to the formation of suppuration, the surface of which is covered with crusts. localized on the back, abdomen.

All of the above symptoms of lice indicate the presence of pediculosis in humans.

How the inspection is carried out

To find out if there are lice on the head of a child, it is enough to examine it. Such a check is carried out both at home and in the clinic. If an adult is suspected of having pediculosis, then one of the family members should be asked to look at his head.

1. For examination at home, the louse carrier should be seated on a stool in a well-lit area or next to a table lamp.
2. After combing the hair in the usual way, they should be divided into independent strands and examined individually for the presence of nits.
3. To recognize pests, you should use a magnifying glass.
4. It is better to start examining the child's head from the temporal zone, moving along the front of the head to the opposite side. Having examined the front of the head, the back of the head should be examined in a similar way, observing the same rule.

Each curl is combed with a special comb, the teeth of which are located to each other on minimum distance. The procedure is carried out over a piece of white matter or paper.

Spread of lice through natural conditions, food and other intermediate forms are impossible. Insects are transmitted only from a sick person to a healthy person.

There are several myths about lice. Some argue that they are already under the skin of a person and can “wake up” under adverse factors - stress, poor hygiene and other situations.

The first way to identify head lice is to feel the symptoms. The initial period of infection has a short phase with dim. Light scratching quickly turns into annoying itching.

Insects feed on blood, and to gain access to it, they pierce the skin and inject a special substance. It prevents blood clotting and causes irritating itching.

The bite is accompanied by a slight prick, but if a small amount of lice lives in the head, then an infected person may not pay attention to itching.

rending combing the head begins after hatching more than a dozen lice. Itching does not go away after washing the head, it becomes more frequent at night, and the person constantly pulls his head.

Gradually the symptomatology expands. Constant scratching of the affected areas leads to the appearance of blood on the skin. In advanced situations, areas of the skin fester, formations appear that are similar to small boils. Prolonged pediculosis leads to thickening of the skin and pigmentation.

How to find out if there are lice on your head: another characteristic will help determine pediculosis outward sign- lice larvae in the head. Nits sit firmly on the hairs. Usually the larvae are attached at a distance of 1 cm from the hair root.

How to understand that you have lice, on your own?

There are certain areas where the development of insects occurs most intensively. It is from these places that they spread throughout the head, so they need to be examined immediately if pediculosis is suspected. These include the occipital region and temples.

So how do you know if you have lice? Pay attention to the back of the head and the area of ​​the temples, as well as behind the ears and on the neck.

nits. Just a couple of days after infection, they become noticeable, but adults are not always in sight.

Sometimes they can be confused with dandruff at the initial stage, but when squeezed, the capsule with the larva makes a bursting sound, which is not typical for keratinized skin particles. Nits have an elongated spindle shape, not exceeding 0.8 mm. There is a slight seal at the end of the formation.

bites. How to know if you have lice? In places of activity of insects, slight redness appears. They can be single at the initial stage and multiple if pediculosis is running.

Constant irritation of the skin causes severe itching, which leads to hyperemia at the bite sites and even swelling. In some cases, an allergic reaction may develop.

Assistance with pediculosis examination. Sometimes self-identification of lice with suspicion becomes difficult. Then it can be done with the help of another family member.

Also, parents should regularly accompany children who have contact with peers in kindergarten or school institution.

Comb application. How to know if there are lice in the head, using a comb? will allow you to quickly identify nits, as well as subsequently.

Finding and combing out lice on a wet head. Before you understand that lice have appeared, wound up and live happily on your hair, we recommend that you wet your head. With wet hair, it is easy to identify lice, as they remain motionless when exposed to water.

When combing, the teeth should reach the roots of the hair and lightly touch the skin. The comb is carried out from the skin along the entire length, and then it is examined for the presence of nits and lice.

If at least one individual is seen, then the person is sick with pediculosis. The teeth after each passage through the hair are carefully wiped with a napkin or rinsed with water.

What to do if pediculosis is confirmed?

In addition to eliminating adults, nits must be carefully removed. After a few days, they will be able to turn into adults capable of producing new offspring and causing complications.

Currently, there are a lot of modern drugs in the pharmacy that quickly cope with the disease. If pediculosis is observed in a child, then it is better to coordinate the further choice of remedy with the pediatrician. It is necessary to act in accordance with the instructions to avoid inefficiencies.

An important point is the observance of the dosage. If this fact is ignored, any person may experience an allergic reaction to the active ingredients.

It is considered the most acceptable and less traumatic for a child. They are easy to apply and quickly kill adult insects. Known drugs for lice have no effect on nits, you will need to get rid of them manually.

Find out how you can be treated for lice and nits from.

Mechanical removal of lice

After using any product, be sure to comb out all the nits. It is recommended to do this in bright light, slowly sorting through small strands.

It is important not to miss even the smallest nits.. For a more effective procedure, it is recommended to use folk remedies.

Well eliminates nits acidic environment- lemon or cranberry juice,. Before application, they must be diluted with plain water.

A good result is also noted when using laundry soap.

Combing nits - laborious process requiring patience, especially with advanced pediculosis.

Forecasts

Complicated infections. Lice are a source of serious and dangerous diseases. Thanks to medicines the occurrence of typhus and Volyn fever is reduced to zero.

Useful video

How to find out that you have lice on your head, to understand whether they are or not? About the causes, symptoms and treatment of pediculosis from the video: