Pediculosis

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Pediculosis
Pediculus humanus var capitis.jpg
Pediculus humanus capitis (♀)
Specialty Infectious disease

Pediculosis is an infestation of lice from the sub-order Anoplura, family Pediculidae. Accordingly, the infestation with head lice is named pediculosis capitis, while this with body lice, pediculosis corporis. [1] [2] Although pediculosis in humans may properly refer to lice infestation of any part of the body, the term is sometimes used loosely to refer to pediculosis capitis, the infestation of the human head with the specific head louse.

Contents

Classification

Pediculosis may be divided into the following types: [3] :446–8 [4]

Head lice

Presentation

Head louse crawling on a hairbrush
Phthiriasis in the head of a 6-year-old boy caused by phthiriasis pubis as confirmed by optical (c) and electron microscopy (d). Pediculus humanus capitis 2.jpg
Phthiriasis in the head of a 6-year-old boy caused by phthiriasis pubis as confirmed by optical (c) and electron microscopy (d).

Head-lice infestation is most frequent on children aged 3–10 and their families. Approximately 3% of school children in the United States contract head lice. [6] [ failed verification ] Females aged 3–12 years are most commonly infested. [7] Those of African descent rarely experience infestation due to differences in hair texture. [7]

Head lice are spread through direct head-to-head contact with an infested person. From each egg or "nit" may hatch one nymph that will grow and develop to the adult louse. Lice feed on blood once or more often each day by piercing the skin with their tiny needle-like mouthparts. While feeding they excrete saliva, which irritates the skin and causes itching. [6] Lice cannot burrow into the skin.[ citation needed ]

Diagnosis

To diagnose infestation, the entire scalp should be combed thoroughly with a louse comb and the teeth of the comb should be examined for the presence of living lice after each time the comb passes through the hair. The use of a louse comb is the most effective way to detect living lice. [8]

The most characteristic symptom of infestation is pruritus (itching) on the head that normally intensifies 3 to 4 weeks after the initial infestation. The bite reaction is very mild and it can be rarely seen between the hairs. Excessive scratching of the infested areas can cause sores, which may become infected.[ citation needed ]

Treatment

The number of diagnosed cases of human louse infestations (or pediculosis) has increased worldwide since the mid-1960s, reaching hundreds of millions annually. [9] There is no product or method that assures 100% destruction of the eggs and hatched lice after a single treatment. However, there are a number of treatment methods that can be employed with varying degrees of success. These methods include chemical treatments, natural products, combs, shaving, hot air, silicone-based lotions, and ethanol (ethyl alcohol). [10]

Pediculosis is commonly treated with permethrin lotion. [11] [12]

Epidemiology

About 14 million people, mainly children, are treated annually for head lice in the United States alone. Only a small proportion of those treated, however, may have objective evidence of an extant infestation. [13] High levels of louse infestations have also been reported from all over the world including Denmark, Sweden, U.K., France and Australia. [14] [15] Normally head lice infest a new host only by close contact between individuals, making social contacts among children and parent child interactions more likely routes of infestation than shared combs, brushes, towels, clothing, beds or closets. Head-to-head contact is by far the most common route of lice transmission.[ citation needed ]

The United Kingdom's National Health Service, and many American health agencies, [16] [17] report that lice "prefer" clean hair, because it's easier to attach eggs and to cling to the strands.[ citation needed ]

Head lice (Pediculus humanus capitis) are not known to be vectors of diseases, unlike body lice (Pediculus humanus humanus), which are known vectors of epidemic or louse-borne typhus (Rickettsia prowazekii), trench fever (Rochalimaea quintana) and louse-borne relapsing fever (Borrelia recurrentis).[ citation needed ]

Body lice

This condition is caused by body louse (Pediculus humanus humanus, sometimes called Pediculus humanus corporis), [18] a louse that infests humans and is adapted to lay eggs in clothing, rather than at the base of hairs, and is thus of recent evolutionary origin.

Pubic lice

Other animals

Pediculosis is more common in cattle than any other type of domesticated animal. [19] This is a significant problem, as it can cause weight loss of 55 to 75 pounds per animal. [19] Some species of lice infesting cattle include the cattle biting louse ( Bovicola bovis ), the shortnosed cattle louse ( Haematopinus eurysternus ), the longnosed cattle louse ( Linognathus vituli ), and the little blue cattle louse ( Solenopotes capillatus ). [20]

History

In the 15th century, topical mercury treatment was used to treat pediculosis. [21]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louse</span> Order of insects

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sucking louse</span> Suborder of insects

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crab louse</span> Species of insect

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Head louse</span> Insect parasite of humans

The head louse is an obligate ectoparasite of humans. Head lice are wingless insects that spend their entire lives on the human scalp and feed exclusively on human blood. Humans are the only known hosts of this specific parasite, while chimpanzees and bonobos host a closely related species, Pediculus schaeffi. Other species of lice infest most orders of mammals and all orders of birds.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Body louse</span> Subspecies of insect

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Head lice infestation</span> Medical condition

Head lice infestation, also known as pediculosis capitis, is the infection of the head hair and scalp by the head louse. Itching from lice bites is common. During a person's first infection, the itch may not develop for up to six weeks. If a person is infected again, symptoms may begin much more quickly. The itch may cause problems with sleeping. Generally, however, it is not a serious condition. While head lice appear to spread some other diseases in Africa, they do not appear to do so in Europe or North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No nit policy</span> Public health policy

No nit policy is a public health policy implemented by some education authorities to prevent the transmission of head lice infestation. The "no nit" policy requires the sending home and barring of all children who have nits on their hair from controlled settings such as school, summer camp or day care facilities. The CDC, American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) advocate that "no-nit" policies should be discontinued, due in part because nits, the eggs or empty egg shells, are not transmissible and the burden of unnecessary absenteeism to the students, families and communities far outweighs the risks associated with head lice. Proponents of the no-nit policy counter that only a consistently nit-free child can be reliably shown to be infestation-free. That is, the presence of nits serves as a proxy for infestation status. Proponents argue that such a proxy is necessary because lice screening is prone to false negative conclusions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pediculosis corporis</span> Medical condition

Pediculosis corporis or Vagabond's disease is a cutaneous condition caused by body lice that lay their eggs on clothing and to a lesser extent on human hairs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pediculosis pubis</span> Infestation by the pubic louse

Pediculosis pubis is an infestation by the pubic louse, Pthirus pubis, a wingless insect which feeds on blood and lays its eggs (nits) on mainly pubic hair. Less commonly, hair near the anus, armpit, beard, eyebrows, moustache, and eyelashes may be involved. It is usually acquired during sex, but can be spread via bedding, clothing and towels, and is more common in crowded conditions where there is close contact between people.

Abametapir, sold under the brand name Xeglyze, is a medication used for the treatment of head lice infestation in people six months of age and older.

References

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    Marriott JF (2010). Pharmaceutical Compounding and Dispensing. Pharmaceutical Press. p. 77. ISBN   9780853699125. ALCOHOL. After water, this is probably the next most important solvent used pharmaceutically. Although ethanol (ethyl alcohol) is rarely used as a lone solvent for preparations for internal use, it is used in the manufacture of some of the galenicals used in pharmacy (e.g. tinctures, see Chapter 2). In extemporaneous dispensing it is normally used for the production of lotions for external application to unbroken skin. It is particularly useful if rapid evaporation is required (e.g. for insecticidal lotions applied to hair for the treatment of lice).
    Ethanol as an arthropod killing solution. Szinwelski N, Fialho VS, Yotoko KS, Seleme LR, Sperber CF (2012). "Ethanol fuel improves arthropod capture in pitfall traps and preserves DNA". ZooKeys (196): 11–22. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.196.3130 . PMC   3361084 . PMID   22679388. It has been shown that at concentrations higher than 95%, commercial alcohol preserves DNA (Nagy 2010), but the use of highly concentrated commercial alcohol as a killing solution may be prohibitively expensive when needed in large quantities, such as in large-scale biodiversity sampling. In Brazil, for example, it is illegal to carry large amounts of commercial alcohol on long journeys, which could hinder its use in extensive field expeditions. Here we propose the use of ethanol fuel as a cheaper and logistically feasible alternative
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