News tagged with head lice

Fighting head lice effectively with plasma

Once head lice have attached themselves to hair follicles, they can deftly evade detection and are therefore hard to kill. Infestations of these bloodsucking parasites are commonly dealt with using chemicals and a specialized ...

Nov 03, 2015
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Keep lice off your child's head

(HealthDay)—It's that time of year when your children are back in school—and you need to be on the lookout for head lice, an expert says.

Jan 24, 2014
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Doc dispels common myths about head lice

(HealthDay)—Although lice do not cause serious physical harm, they can result in a lot of emotional distress because many people still mistakenly believe they are a sign of poor hygiene, an expert explains.

Oct 18, 2013
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Head-louse infestation

Head-louse infestation or head lice (also referred to colloquially in British, Irish, and Australian English as nits) is a human medical condition caused by the colonization of the hair and skin by the parasitic insect Pediculus humanus capitis—the head louse. Typically, only the head or scalp of the host is infested, although the disease can occur in other hairy parts of the body, like leg hairs. Head lice feed on human blood (hematophagy), and itching from louse bites is a common symptom of this condition. Treatment typically includes application of topical insecticides such as a pyrethrin or permethrin, although a variety of folk remedies are also common.

Lice infestation in general is known as pediculosis, and occurs in many mammalian and bird species. The term pediculosis capitis, or simply "pediculosis", is sometimes used to refer to the specific human pediculosis due to P. humanus capitis (i.e., head-louse infestation). Humans are hosts for two other lice as well—the body louse and the crab louse.

Head-louse infestation is widely endemic, especially in children. It is a cause of some concern in public health, although, unlike human body lice, head lice are not carriers of other infectious diseases.


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