Head Lice

Head Lice are small blood-sucking, wingless insects found on the human scalp. They are six legged creatures with claws, which help them cling to and crawl through human hair. They live by feeding off a human host, piercing their scalp with their mouthpart to draw out the blood. Their survival needs necessitate spending their whole life cycle on a human host.

Head Lice origin dates back to the origin of human life. Humans are indispensable to their survival. Head lice are most commonly found in school children, with the most vulnerable age being 4-11 years old. They do not discriminate between rich or poor neither do they have any preference towards dirty or clean hair.

Nature and Incidence of Head Lice
 
HEAD LICE also called, Pediculus Humanus Capitis are small blood-sucking, wingless insects found on the human scalp. They are approximately the size of a sesame seed and cannot jump or fly.  They are six legged creatures with claws, which help them cling to and crawl through human hair. 

Head Lice origins date back to the origin of human life. Their survival needs necessitate spending their whole life cycle on a human host. They live by feeding off their human host by piercing their scalp with its mouthpart to draw out the blood. 

Head to head contact with an infested person remains the most widely respected scientific view of how head lice are spread from one host to another. There are conflicting views amongst scientist as to whether lice can spread through sharing pillows, hats or combs.

Occurrence of Head Lice

Any person can be infested with head lice irrespective of age, gender or class. They are equally attracted to clean and dirty hair. 

Head Lice are most commonly found in school children, the most vulnerable age for catching head lice infestation remains 4-11 years.

Life Cycle of a Head Louse
 
The life cycle of a head louse can be classified in three distinctive stages, egg, nymph and mature lice.

Louse eggs: This is the first stage in the life cycle of a head louse. Louse eggs are usually laid at the base of hairs, about ½ -inch from the scalp, where they hatch after 7-10 days.  They can camouflage their presence by blending with the hair colour. A female louse can lay as many as five to six eggs each day.  The eggs attach to the human hair with a material like super glue, which makes it difficult to remove these eggs.  

The nymph: Lice eggs usually hatch within 7-10 days. Hatched eggs are called nymphs. They are similar to an adult louse in characteristics but they differ in size. Nymphs are much smaller than a mature louse. Nymphs moult three times before becoming a mature head louse. This process takes 9-12 days. 

Mature head lice: An adult head louse is approximately the size of a sesame seed and can lay as many as 50-100 eggs in its lifetime. Head Lice feed on human blood, making humans indispensable to their survival. Head Lice cannot survive for more than 2 days if they fall off their human host.  

Detection of Head Lice
 
The presence of head lice can be  signalled by itching in response to bites which instigates continuous head scratching that can be a symptom of head lice infestation. 

Visual evidence can be through the presence of lice, eggs or nits (empty eggshells) in human hair. Behind the ears or at the nape of neck are the favourite places for head lice to appear.

‘Detection combing’ with a fine toothed plastic comb remains one of the most effective methods for detection of head lice. One detected, the comb can also be used for removal of lice. It remains extremely important to use a comb with optimum teeth spacing that allows no space for lice to escape and hence makes the detection and removal, a hassle free and quick process.

Sponsored by www.Pediculosis.com

Albyn has been at the forefront of pediculosis combs for over 30 years. We work with leading pharmaceutical companies to develop and supply innovative products and packaging for the detection and removal of head lice and eggs.  Albyn sponsor www.pediculosis.com, the only web site in the world aimed specifically at researchers, product managers and buyers in the head lice industry. Pediculosis.com is a single source of insightful head lice information published from around the globe, helping professionals spot emerging business opportunities and trends.

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