Pediculosis. What is it, everyone knows, especially parents whose children attend children's groups. This is a disease caused by lice that parasitize the scalp. Historians testify that the first lice appeared more than 10,000 years ago.
Relevance of the problem
Despite the increase in the material well-being of people and the improvement of socio-economic conditions, infection with head lice is growing worldwide.
In many areas of the United States, the defeat escalates into an epidemic. In 5% of people find pediculosis. Everyone should know what it is, how it manifests itself, what causes it, and, most importantly, how to deal with it. This disease of the scalp is characterized by the fact that head lice (Pediculus capitis) begin to live and actively multiply on the skin. There are also pubic and wound lice, which suffer from people who neglect personal hygiene and are illegible in their sexual partners. Most of all, pediculosis is common among asocial persons or people who have come from disadvantaged places, as well as in areas where there is no active fight against pediculosis. It should be noted that lice damage can occur in any person in close contact with the diseased.
The danger of clothes lice is that this type of louse is a carrier of trench fever and typhoid.
How does infection happen?
Head louse is a parasite that gets on the scalp when in close contact or when using hairbrushes, headgear, or when sharing pillows or bedding. These lice easily crawl from one hairline to another, especially if the hair is straight. It has been observed that pediculosis is rarely detected in African Americans or in Africa because of hair structure.
Why does lice occur? What is it - lice, nits? An adult does not know how to fly and jump. She can only crawl. Crawling from the scalp to the scalp, it begins to multiply actively. It should be noted that head lice can live on eyebrows, eyelashes, mustaches and beards. Nits are eggs that lay a mature individual. Through chitin - an adhesive substance - they stick to the hair shaft and are clearly visible on dark hair at the very roots.
Lice algorithm
The head louse lives about 30 days. She can lay more than 10 eggs per day. In 7-10 days, nits mature and turn into nymphs - immature individuals. After 7-9 days, this stage of maturation passes into the formation of adults.
Symptoms of Pediculosis
The individual itself is difficult to determine when examining the head, since it is colorless. Only after she gets drunk with blood does her color change from red to reddish brown. Itching is the first symptom that can alert, although it intensifies 2-3 weeks after the initial infection. The occurrence of itching is explained by the fact that when a louse bites with saliva, it releases special substances that, getting into the wound, irritate the skin.
Favorite habitats of pubic lice are the occipital, temporal region, and skin near the ears. Constant scratching can lead to the attachment of a secondary infection and the appearance of pustular skin lesions. In the absence of treatment, the hair sticks together, the scalp becomes covered with purulent excoriation, lymph nodes can become inflamed and body temperature may rise.
Diagnostics
Detection of nits and mature individuals is possible with a thorough examination of the child’s scalp using a lamp, a magnifying glass and a comb with frequent teeth. When crushing lice, a click occurs, which is not characteristic of other parasites. Even one identified individual suggests that there is pediculosis.
What is an inactive infection? Such a diagnosis is made when only nits are found that can be confused with dandruff. The difference is that dandruff is easily combed out, and the eggs are firmly glued to the hair shaft, and it is so easy not to separate them.
Inspect the scalp of the child, if he attends the children's team, it is necessary every week.
Lice treatment
This lesion can be treated at home.
Currently, in pharmacies you can buy a lot of medicines: sprays, shampoos for the treatment of head lice. Their main active substances are:
• malathion;
• pyrethrin;
• permethrin;
• phenotrin.
An effective remedy for head lice is Nittifor, Lauri liquid, and Veda shampoo. Some dermatologists recommend sulfuric mercury ointment, but it has a specific effect on pubic lice and is contraindicated in skin lesions with severe scratching. Medifox and Super Medifox are the safest remedies for head lice. Reviews of parents who used these drugs suggest that these substances do not irritate the skin, especially the affected areas.
Insecticides intended to remove bugs, flies and cockroaches are contraindicated for the treatment. These are toxic substances that can poison a child, a pregnant woman, and a nursing mother. The use of kerosene and sweet cherry water is not recommended , since they are highly toxic.
You need to know that removing adults is not enough to completely cure pediculosis. Preparations of various companies kill only adult insects, but do not affect nits.
Processing Rules
Before anti-pediculosis treatment, wash your hair with shampoo and dry it. After that, using a cotton swab, 20 to 50 ml of the drug substance is applied to the hair, depending on the length of the hair. After this, the scalp is processed. If the product is available in the form of a spray, the processing is simplified.
The head is wrapped in foil and left for 40-45 minutes, after which it is necessary to rinse everything with warm water and shampoo.
Dermatologists warn that all modern recommended drugs do not give a guarantee of getting rid of pediculosis disease; it’s such a defeat by protozoa that cannot be cured at one time. Reprocessing should be carried out after 7-10 days.
Destruction of nits
The easiest method to destroy nits is to completely shave off the hairline. But for a child attending a children's team, this can be a great psychological trauma. You can’t remove the nits by ordinary combing, since they are firmly attached to the hair, so before manipulation it is necessary to apply vegetable oil or vinegar to the hair. You can comb out, wetting the comb in these substances, and very carefully sorting out each strand of hair.
Previously, the child’s shoulders are covered with a light towel and light paper is placed under the legs to control the efficiency of combing. Good processing requires good lighting.
The combing method with conditioner is suitable for all children, pregnant and lactating, since it does not have any toxic effect. The main action of the hair conditioner is blockage of the holes in the body of the lice and the cessation of breathing. At the same time, nits, nymphs, and lice are combed out.
Lice prophylaxis
The order "Prevention of Pediculosis" was approved in the Russian Federation 11/26/1988. It provides for the inspection of children who attend childcare facilities or live in them weekly; entering educational institutions and after absence for more than 7 days - once. Adults are examined during medical check-ups, periodic medical examinations, and upon admission to pre-trial detention centers and places for overnight stay.
Planned activities include:
- regular examinations of the population in order to detect pediculosis;
- A sufficient amount of personal hygiene products, removable bedding, disinfectants and detergents;
- equipping hospitals with distribution centers, night-stay houses, social welfare institutions, pre-trial detention centers, temporary accommodation centers for migrants, sanitary inspection rooms, bathhouses with disinfection equipment and necessary facilities.
The main measure for the prevention of head lice is personal hygiene, especially regular shampooing. Children attending children's groups need to inspect the hair weekly.
It is necessary to explain to children that one should not use someone else's comb, wear someone else's hats and communicate with stray animals. In the shower should be a comb for combing hair, which is washed with warm water and soap.
If pediculosis, especially clothes and pubic lice, is detected, the patient’s clothing should be treated in a disinfectant chamber, and with head lice, treat and comb lice and nits or shave off the hairline.