About Lice

Lice are blood-sucking parasites that feed on human blood. Head lice are very small, around 0.4 - 7 mm. They don't have wings, but they have three pairs of legs, each tipped with sickle-shaped claws that they use to grip hair and hold on. Head lice range in color from light to dark brown. After feeding on human blood, they turn dark brown, and as the human blood content decreases, the color becomes lighter. Lice live on average 30-40 days and lay nits (eggs) near hair follicles. They are capable of laying from 200 to 400 eggs during their entire life.

Lice develop in three stages: nit, nymph, and adult. An adult female louse lays six to ten eggs (nits) daily. Nits are oval-shaped and range in color from light to dark brown or gray. Nits are firmly glued to human hair. Within 7-10 days, nymphs (baby lice) hatch from the nits; after a week, the nymphs become adults capable of laying eggs.

While an adult louse cannot survive more than two days off the human scalp, nits can remain alive for up to 10 days on clothing, hairbrushes, or carpets. Lice and nits can survive in water for up to 48 hours.

Where Can You Get Them?

Lice are transmitted only by contact, crawling from an infected person to a healthy one, or through using someone's hair brushes, hats, clothing, pillows, car seats, beds etc. The most common places where infections take place are:

• Kindergartens and schools
• Hair salons
• Hotels, dormitories
• Camps
• Swimming pools

Adults most often become infected with head lice from their children.

What Are the Symptoms?

The main symptom of lice presence is severe itching of the scalp at the bite sites, with the most common locations being the temples, the back of the head, and the back of the ears. Patients often complain of a sensation of something moving in their hair. In severe lice infestations, the patient constantly scratches the scalp.

How to Know If You Have Them?

Diagnosis of scalp lice always begins with a visual examination with combing the hair, as lice are usually easily visible to the eye. Nits are located closer to the hair root and are also easily visible.

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