Quite a rarity in the civilized world, where people are taken care of and sanitary requirements are observed. But during natural disasters, when people are overcrowded or during war, they can become a real threat to human health. Insects cannot go hungry for a long time, so they get out of their hiding places in the folds of people’s clothes and feed on the blood of their owner. Linen lice bites that cover the arms, legs and torso of a person are different from other ectoparasites. They have serious consequences for human health and require immediate measures to treat and get rid of pests.
What is a body louse
Interesting!
On a note!
Linen lice have many names: body lice, clothing lice, clothing lice, bed lice.
After some time, the place where the louse fed begins to itch and hurt very much. Scratching the skin is not recommended, as you can get an infection that will require treatment in the hospital for a long time.
The lifespan of a linen louse is about 35 days. During the day, the female is able to lay from 5 to 14 eggs (nits), which she attaches to the tissue using special mucus. The nits remain in this position until the end of maturation. During the entire period of one female, from 200 to 400 individuals are born.
Linen lice are well adapted to unfavorable conditions life. They can survive without an owner for up to 1 week. After entering their normal environment, they begin to quickly develop and bite their prey. If feeding is not resumed after a week, the linen louse dies.
On a note!
The most common places for insect bites include the back, arms, legs, sides and stomach.
Habitat
The main places where insects can be found are clothing whose folds and seams are in close contact with the body, especially underwear. Linen lice feel good in dirty, unwashed bedding, mattresses and blankets, therefore they are constant companions of antisocial elements.
In medicine, there is even a disease called Vagabonda, which is translated from French as “vagrant disease.” A photo of linen lice bites during a severe stage of the disease shows the seriousness of this problem.
Why are insect bites dangerous?
Close attention to the topic of the danger of insect bites is due to the fact that in modern conditions life, the ecology changes significantly, and the consequences of these changes become unpredictable.
The reason for urgent consultation with a doctor are symptoms that suddenly appear in a person:
- elevated temperature;
- nausea or vomiting;
- recurrent headaches;
- causeless feverish conditions.
A visit to a medical facility will make it possible to exclude those diseases that can arise as a result of linen lice bites, because they become the cause, including relapsing or typhus and trench fever.
Where can you get lice?
- they usually live in bedding and pass through it to a new owner;
- reach the victim through the clothes of another person;
- often public places with large crowds of people are a risk zone where infestation with linen lice can occur.
Such objects are:
- clothing stores - fitting rooms;
- campsites, hotels, motels, hostels;
- all places of public recreation: children's, sports and tourist camps, sanatoriums and recreation centers;
- public and private transport;
- overnight stay in one tent during hiking trips;
- at a party or in places where there is contact with strangers bed linen, clothes or towels.
Treatment and prevention of infection
If, despite all precautions, bed lice bites are found on a person nearby, then it is necessary to urgently take appropriate measures. First of all, it is necessary to treat the wounds that appear. Any disinfectant that will slightly relieve pain and reduce itching will do: hydrogen peroxide, Rescuer or Zvezdochka. All this can be bought at any pharmacy.
Treatment of single linen lice bites is not particularly difficult. After 3-4 days after daily treatment, they will go away on their own without a trace. But in the case of extensive insect infestation, only a doctor can find the right way to solve the problem and select a competent treatment regimen. Numerous photos of linen lice bites are presented on the Internet and in specialized medical literature, with the help of which you can diagnose the cause of the disease.
But treating bites alone will not help completely. Comprehensive measures are needed. It is necessary to process all things using any available methods:
- wash with boiling water or at 80 degrees;
- treatment with steam or disinfectants;
- ironing clothes, which Special attention pay attention to joints and seams;
- dry cleaning
It is almost impossible to notice this attack with the naked eye. Only when bites appear on the body after sleep, which itch terribly, does a suspicion arise that an infection has occurred.
It is a mistaken opinion that linen (body) lice are the lot of marginalized people. You can become infected in transport, in a store, and even in a queue. Wherever there is a large crowd of people and they touch each other's clothes, transmission of infection is possible.
Places where the risk of infection is highest:
It is quite easy to distinguish between a louse bite and a bug bite, although both are unpleasant problems and the methods of control are, in principle, the same. If bedbugs do not choose where on the body to drink blood, then the lice are “tied” to their habitat.
Therefore, small red bite marks appear where the seams of clothing touch the body, lining up in an even line. In bed, insects usually nest in the side folds of sheets and corners of duvet covers. Therefore, most often there will be bites on the arms and legs, less often in the face and neck after a night's sleep.
A person does not immediately feel the bite. Only after the substance injected into the blood begins to dissolve, a thickening appears on the skin and a small red spot appears that itches unbearably.
If a blister is observed on the body from a bug, then a small red dot and a small painful lump remain from the louse.
A string of small itchy bites after sleeping on the body or after wearing certain clothes is the first sign of infection. The above photo of linen lice bites will help you quickly identify the carrier of the infection and begin thorough disinfection.
The danger of body lice
When scratching bites, small festering wounds appear on the skin, especially in children, which also leads to the spread of skin lesions. infectious diseases.
Methods of control and prevention
Don't hope that folk remedies will help cope with body lice; they are best used for prevention. For example, herbs such as tansy, spurge or fern leaves and, of course, personal hygiene.
A good method is to treat all joints of shelves in the closet with dust or tar soap. A piece of old rancid lard also repels lice and should also be used to wipe all the cracks and corners of the furniture. The bed will also have to be completely treated with soap from the bottom and top.
- A good product “Executioner” is one bottle per five square meters. It is diluted with water and the solution is used to treat all furniture and even floors. Many users claim that such disinfection is extremely effective.
- It is advisable to dry the laundry on outdoors in the sun for a day or leave in the cold for two days.
- The best solution is to call an insect extermination team, but the smell after such sanitation does not disappear for about a month. Therefore, if there are children in the house, it is better to use more gentle methods of treating the room.
- Sprays Medifox or Pyrethrum do not have strong smell and effectively cope with the problem, especially good for processing upholstered furniture, pillows and blankets.
- All bedding, especially pillows and blankets with natural down and feathers, should be sent to dry cleaning with additional insecticidal treatment.
- Loose powders against lice and bedbugs also help. We put things in plastic bag with powder, close tightly and leave for three days. After that, wash as usual.
Pediculosis is an unpleasant disease accompanied by a number of symptoms that are difficult to ignore.
One of them is lice bites that remain on the skin in the form of red spots.
Severe itching prevents the patient from doing his usual activities. How to determine that bites are caused by lice, and what actions can be taken to heal quickly?
Process description
The hair louse not only drinks blood, but also causes allergies in humans.
A person may not feel pain, but a few minutes after the bite the enzyme causes an allergic reaction. It makes a person itch. Relief occurs only for a few minutes, after which the itching becomes even stronger.
Pimples are randomly scattered across the skin, so they can easily be mistaken for a rash or acne.
Features of skin lesions
If the first bites initial stage diseases can be seen on any part of the body, then the last 2 types do not leave the hairline at first and suck blood only in the hair growth area. 
The difficulty of treatment is that medications, killing adult individuals, may be powerless in the fight against nits.
The manual method of getting rid of lice (combing with a comb, picking with your fingers) does not give a positive result, since many nits are empty shells from which insects have already emerged.
Moreover, there are so many eggs containing living individuals that they cannot be completely removed in a short time. With multiple lesions, people often resort to the last resort - cutting their hair bald. Although this can be avoided if you listen to your doctor's recommendations and use effective drugs from pediculosis.
Possible complications
In the Middle Ages and during the Great Patriotic War lice became the cause of mass epidemics. The bubonic plague killed millions of people.
During the Second World War, soldiers fell ill with typhus and relapsing fever.
The warriors saved themselves by taking off their clothes and boiling them. But this did not prevent re-infection. There was not enough food, clothing, medicine, and personal hygiene products.
Lice are not as harmless as they seem and can cause serious illness.
A person infested with lice may develop pyoderma, a purulent skin lesion caused by pyogenic cocci.
Severe fever and an increase in body temperature to borderline values occur in severe stages of head lice.
What to do
These remedies will help relieve itching
The patient’s condition during treatment can be alleviated using accessible and inexpensive means:
- Rubbing bites with propolis tincture, alcohol, vodka, and soda solution helps relieve itching.
- Among the medical products used are Fenistil, Rescuer, Zvezdochka.
- If you have an allergic reaction to multiple bites, Menovazin is used.
The patient must use by individual means hygiene, monitor the cleanliness of underwear. Things are subjected to heat treatment. During treatment, contact with other people is prohibited. Bed linen is changed daily and washed at high temperatures. If you are infested with pubic and body lice, your body hair will have to be shaved off.
When visiting public places- swimming pool, bathhouse, sauna, beach - you need to use your own towel, soap, cap, bed linen.
This will reduce the risk of lice infestation. Despite the fact that nothing indicates illness, during tourist trips or vacations at sea, family members need to examine each other every day. If a person is infected with lice, the symptoms of infection may not appear at first. And during this period, lice quickly increase their numbers. It is better to prevent the disease than to undergo long treatment later.
Not everyone is aware of what lice bites in the head area look like and whether pests are capable of biting other areas on the victim’s body. Often the results of active activity of individuals are confused with bites of ticks and mosquitoes.
The louse bites not only in its immediate habitat - on the head, but also in other parts of the body. The question of whether nits bite people began to be asked due to the discovery of a large number of dry membranes on the scalp in patients.
The answer to the question posed is negative.
Nits are eggs of individuals, i.e., underdeveloped lice, which at this stage are not capable of harming the owner.
How they bite
To begin with, it makes sense to understand how lice bite people. Once in in the right place, the insect begins to use sharp stilettos around its mouth. The flea also has the same “attributes”. With the help of these elements the pest moves deeper skin until it reaches the artery.
Attention! The larvae are also capable of biting. However, their activity is not so dangerous for humans: the amount of irritating enzyme in the saliva of individuals is extremely small.
What do lice bites look like?
A reliable sign of active activity of individuals is the detection of lice bites on the head and body of a person. The skin in the local area turns red, a protracted center is visualized, and itching and tissue swelling are noted.
When linen lice bite, pimples 2-4 mm in diameter appear on the human body (not the hair part). Most often, such “marks” are found on the patient’s abdomen, shoulders and buttocks. With increased sensitivity of the body, an allergic reaction manifests itself in the form of extensive swelling and redness.
Areas affected by head lice become crusty when scratched. In this case, pimples appear without of a certain order– the points are located chaotically.
Differences between lice bites and other insect bites
This feature of pests is explained by the specific structure of the body - only lice can boast of special hook-shaped growths on their paws, which facilitate the process of moving individuals along the hair.
Bites body lice it is not so easy to distinguish: their marks are approximately the same size, they are located in the area of the buttocks, abdomen, arms, etc.
The peculiarity of lice bites of this type can only be considered their chaotic location.
If you compare a louse with a bug, the latter leaves behind a chain of red dots on the body of the victim.
Why are bites dangerous?
A lice bite is dangerous due to the possibility of infecting the owner with a serious illness.
Diseases carried by insects include:
- relapsing fever. Manifested by fever, allergic rashes, severe intoxication, jaundice of the skin;
- typhus. Accompanied by destructive changes in blood vessels;
- quintan. Acute infection, manifested in the form of high fever, soreness in muscles and joints;
- tularemia. An infection that leads to damage to the lymph nodes and nearby tissue.
Attention! Lice bites on the body and head can cause a severe allergic reaction, which requires prompt attention to specialists.
Treatment
Lice bites are a reason to consult a doctor in cases of severe reaction: multiple rashes, elevated temperature, headaches and other alarming symptoms. Before meeting with a specialist, a person can relieve symptoms on their own.
First aid
The first aid algorithm for pest bites is simple and includes the following steps:
- Wash the affected area with soapy water.
- Use a disinfectant and dry the affected area (you can use any alcohol-containing composition).
- Treat each lice bite with Fenistil (you can replace the product with Rescuer).
How to relieve itching
You can relieve the itching of an insect bite with any cream or ointment containing menthol, as well as anti-inflammatory medications.
- Nezulin. Has a natural composition. The drug is not contraindicated for the treatment of children. Has a repellent effect;
- Bepanten. Used in the treatment of bites and protection against pests. Heals and relieves signs of inflammation;
- Menovazin. An effective representative of antiseptics, cools well, relieves inflammation;
- Levomekol. The drug contains an antibacterial component. Fights microbes, eliminates itching, redness, promotes accelerated cell regeneration.
All listed medications are prescribed by a doctor. Additional drug therapy is required for the patient only in cases of severe head lice.
Attention! Because the we're talking about about a contagious form of the disease, throughout the entire therapeutic course the patient should limit his contact with strangers and observe the rules of personal hygiene.
Video
Video instruction. How to get rid of lice and nits at home.
Preventive measures
To protect yourself from lice bites, it is enough to take the following preventive measures:
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Few people manage to avoid insect bites in their lives. In summer, this problem is especially relevant. Sometimes it is difficult to determine who bit you. The wound may hurt, itch, and swelling may appear. But there's no need to panic.
website created a small cheat sheet so that you know exactly what insect attacked you.
Mosquito
Mosquito bites appear as swollen red spots the size of a small berry. Most often they are located on open areas bodies. Mosquitoes bite where the skin is thinnest and where blood vessels are easier to reach. When they bite, they inject saliva into the wound along with anticoagulants that thin the blood. They cause tissue swelling, redness and itching.
Mite
The body reacts to a tick attack with a red spot at the site of the bite. The insect can remain on the victim for a long time and increase in size, feeding on its blood.
Wasp
