Incubation period of nits and lice in humans

Currently, lice as a disease is very common, and children are especially susceptible to this problem. In general, nits and lice are divided into 3 types: pubic, body, and head. Children mainly suffer from head parasites. If a child has nits, the most effective method for removing lice is to start the treatment process in a timely manner. For this reason, parents need to competently, and most importantly, timely check for the presence of nits in their children.

If a child has lice, you need to get rid of the insects before the parasites multiply and actually cause more severe skin damage. However, in practice, not many parents have information on how to remove nits from a child, which initially leads to choosing the wrong remedy to get rid of these parasites. Sometimes parents' knowledge is limited to only modest memories from their childhood, when vinegar and kerosene were used to fight lice.

Below we will dwell in more detail on the methods of eliminating lice from a child as efficiently as possible, and most importantly, it is safe not only for him, but also for his parents, in particular, eliminating the possibility of their infection during such a procedure. It is necessary to remember that nits are not a cold, they will not “go away” by themselves, you need to fight them purposefully, and the sooner you start fighting, the better. Inaction will only lead to ever-increasing itching, and those around you to the risk of infection.

Causes of nits

Let's find the answer to the question - what are the reasons for the appearance of lice in children and where do they come from? Usually, the reason for the appearance of lice in the house is small family members who are in close contact with other children in kindergartens, schools, and other educational institutions. Nits move from one child to another directly during close contact or communication. It is important to remember that lice are excellent jumpers. In order to acquire unpleasant neighbors, it is enough to stand for some time with a person suffering from lice. Sharing hats, towels, combs and items of clothing can also lead to infection.

If lice appear in children, the reasons for this phenomenon can be different, since parasites appear even in children living in clean families and in excellent conditions. Parasites in children usually appear during joint games, periodic fights and direct communication. In practice, the spread of lice in children's groups occurs at lightning speed. It is important to understand that the reasons why lice appear in children are not always due to a violation of any hygiene standards: lice easily infect both children with clean heads and those who wash only occasionally.

The causes of head lice may include the following:

transmission through used pillows, towels and combs; bathing in baths, baths without changing the water between bathers; sharing hats, especially fur ones.

Studying information about the disease and preventive measures

Comprehensive prevention of lice and nits at home should begin with the fact that a person receives the necessary information about the methods of transmission of head lice, since this will prevent panic every time the scalp begins to itch. Selecting the right preventive measures will also help avoid the appearance of parasites and prevent lice infestation.

Maintaining personal hygiene

Such a simple rule is a necessary condition for the prevention of lice in children and adults to give the expected result. This aspect involves regular washing of hair, adherence to personal hygiene rules, refusal to use other people’s clothing and household items, which can be hairbands, hairpins, hats, combs, scarves, headscarves, etc.

Following these simple recommendations is the best way to prevent lice, so adults should not share combs or other hair accessories, and they should also ensure that children do the same. By teaching your child basic personal hygiene, you can reduce the risk of lice infection to the lowest level.

Keeping the house clean

This aspect may seem like a normal process, but if you frequently wash items that come into contact with your head, you can prevent lice from appearing. Therefore, experts recommend regularly washing combs, hair clips, combs, hats, scarves, as well as promptly washing bed linen, furniture covers, pillows, etc. Families in which pediculosis was previously diagnosed should pay particular attention to this rule.

These measures should be observed all year round, using high-quality synthetic powders and hot water for washing bed linen, pillows, and hats. In this case, it is recommended to periodically wash combs and brushes with an alcohol-based solution or disinfectant.

Compliance with the rules for storing personal belongings

Compliance with the rules for placing personal belongings will also help in preventing lice. It provides a responsible approach to organizing the storage of things. In particular, adults need to teach children to use their own lockers at school and in kindergarten. This is necessary in order to prevent contact of personal belongings with possible sources of infection - hats, outerwear, combs of other people.

Symptoms of lice or how to spot lice

If a child has lice, the signs usually manifest themselves in the child scratching his head quite vigorously, which is explained by constant skin itching, most intense in the back of the head, temples, and behind the ears. Because of the itching, children are very restless, become capricious, sleep poorly and scratch their heads all the time. The waste products of parasites fall on the skin of the neck and face, which contributes to the appearance of erythema, papules, and vesicles that can take on the character of chronic dermatitis in the absence of treatment with drugs for head lice.

In children's educational institutions, children are examined for possible head lice by a medical professional or teacher, but this does not relieve parents of the obligation to examine the child's head, regardless of whether he is in an educational institution or not. Signs that can answer the question of how to detect lice in a child are the following: the presence of small ulcers, swelling on the scalp, shoulders and neck.

A sign of lice is also the appearance of nits, which are their eggs, looking like transparent or white dots attached to the hair at a certain angle.

In order to examine the child, it is necessary to sit him under a bright light. If the hair on your head is long, you need to separate the strands from each other using a thin comb and inspecting them. Read the article “How to get rid of nits on long hair quickly and safely?”

Despite their small size, lice are easily detected, and in particularly advanced cases, dead individuals are also visible. On the surface of the skin you can see scratches with specific crusts and blue spots. Having answered the question of why children get lice, let’s move on to the question of how to remove lice and nits from a child, which is the most important in this article.

How quickly can lice reproduce?

The severity of head lice directly depends on the speed at which bloodsuckers reproduce. In this case, one should take into account the duration of their parasitic life, during which they constantly mate and lay eggs in the form of adhesive nits.

• The male head louse lives for a short time - only half a month, but the female lives twice as long - about 30 days. During this period, she is capable of releasing 4 - 5 eggs every day, which will ultimately lead to the appearance of 150 active bloodsuckers in a month.
• In pubic lice, both sexes live for about a month, while the female leaves 3 nits every day, so over a month, up to a hundred new bugs will appear in the groin area, sucking blood and causing unbearable itching in intimate places.
• In body louse, the male lives a little shorter - about 35 days, and the female a little longer - about 45 days, but at the same time manages to leave up to 400 nits during this time, and therefore is the most prolific.

All this is true for a constant comfortable temperature, but if the thermal regime is disrupted, life spans shift and increase, and the number of nits, on the contrary, decreases.

Important! A decrease in temperature directly affects not only the period of nit maturation, but also the female’s ability to lay eggs - if it is too cool for her, the laying will slow down, if it is cold, the parasite will die altogether.

How to remove head lice and cure a child?

So, when examining the child, lice were discovered. So what is the most effective way to remove nits from a child? The most correct decision, but also the most inconvenient, is to seek qualified help from a doctor. The child will be immediately placed under quarantine and reported to an educational institution with all the ensuing consequences from this fact. For this reason, we will talk about ways to remove parasites at home. Currently, on pharmacy shelves you can find a wide range of various anti-lice products. Let's look at how to poison lice and nits in a child in more detail.

When choosing a product, you must first of all be guided by the following:

The product must be suitable for the child’s age, since most products contain pesticides in different concentrations. It is advisable not to use sprays, since a small part of them may enter the respiratory tract, and if you have asthma, then sprays are simply contraindicated. The ideal option is to use products aimed at the effect of dehydration, since lice become immune to certain pesticides, and have not yet learned to resist the effect of dehydration.

Please note that anti-lice and nit treatment for children does not completely eliminate parasites. They need to be combed out. Otherwise they will appear again.

Special shampoos

Today, there are various products on sale against lice and nits in children, including various shampoos. If we talk about shampoos, the most effective remedies for nits and lice for children's heads are solutions based on phenothrin. However, before purchasing, you need to make sure that the shampoo against lice and nits can be used for children.

Regardless of what product is used to combat lice, after using it, the child’s head should be carefully combed with a comb made of natural materials, and also strive to completely remove the eggs by hand. To facilitate the combing process, it is recommended to use vegetable oil.

Today, a good lice remedy for children 2 years old is Nyx cream, which can be used for children aged 6 months and older. However, the treatment process usually takes several days.

Folk remedies for killing lice

A traditional folk remedy is washing your hair with kerosene, and the procedure required repeating up to several times. By the way, if a child has lice, Komarovsky advises not to neglect this means of getting rid of these parasites. Probably, in certain cases, such a remedy turned out to be quite effective, but the question involuntarily arises - where can I get kerosene today, and what modern parent would smear the head of his child (even if he is no longer a baby), to put it mildly, not very useful for health remedy?

There was a time when vinegar and Vaseline were used to combat lice and nits. Based on the results of modern observations, it was revealed that folk remedies for combating lice and nits were effective only in 1 case out of 10.

Studies have confirmed that the effectiveness of using insecticides reaches 80%.

Use of prophylactic agents

Comprehensive prevention against lice and nits should include the use of special preparations. Today, in any pharmacy you can buy a product for the prevention of lice, all kinds of shampoos, sprays, conditioners and natural oils used in alternative medicine to prevent parasite infestation.

Essential oils

There are both organic products on sale, such as essential oils for lice and nits, consisting entirely of natural ingredients, and shampoos with synthetic composition. It is best to give preference to the first option, since the organic composition of the product not only helps prevent lice, but also takes care of the scalp and involves a minimum of side effects.

Strongly scented botanicals such as rosemary, lavender and tea tree oil help prevent lice and keep your hair and scalp healthy.

Tar soap

Tar soap against lice can be used as a preventive tool; its use has no contraindications and has a wide spectrum of action. Using tar soap against lice and nits, which contains a large number of phenol derivatives, you can protect yourself from various fungi, viruses and parasites. Starting from the first use, soap neutralizes pathogenic agents and is an excellent preventive tool in the fight against head lice.

The antiseptic properties of soap protect the hair well from various parasites, however, to achieve a certain effect, it is worth using soap in accordance with the doctor’s instructions.

Repellents

Also, a lice repellent can be used as a preventive measure, which is designed to prevent the appearance of lice. Repellents can come in spray or light aerosol form, making them very easy to use. It is enough to spray the composition of the bottle on your hair and scalp before visiting crowded places where there is a high risk of lice infection. In particular, the repellent can be used before visiting a kindergarten, gym, shopping center and other busy places.

At the same time, the product guarantees protection against the appearance of parasites in case of proper and regular use. The principle of its action is based on repelling lice with the help of a special smell. After application to the hair, the repellent emits an unpleasant odor for parasites, which prevents adult lice from approaching the human body.

The advantage is that the smell is practically imperceptible to humans, and the use of repellent will not create discomfort, but will allow you to continue to lead an active life.

Unlike products aimed at killing lice, among which there is Nyuda anti-lice spray, reviews of which can be found online, the repellent has a more gentle composition and does not have any side effects.

Disease prevention

Prevention of head lice is not something particularly new. You just need to follow all the rules of personal hygiene: you need to explain to the child that he should only use his own comb; for this reason, each family member should have his own comb in the house. The example of parents should encourage the child to practice hygiene.

If lice appear in a child, the causes of which are varied, it will be important, after a long separation of the child from his parents (staying in a sanatorium, a pioneer camp), to carefully examine the child’s head for the possible presence of lice and nits. Girls going outside need to wear their hair in braids, because, for example, on public transport during rush hour you can become infected with lice through close contact.

This article discussed the question of what to do if a child has lice, causes and treatment with various methods and means.

Source

About the reproduction process

Reproduction of insects
One can only guess about the size of the population of bloodsuckers, knowing how many nits a lice lays per day.
One female can lay up to ten eggs. It’s also amazing how many days it takes for lice to hatch from nits. The process of nit formation in adult lice takes 20 to 30 days. Their development cycle can be much shorter (up to 16 days) if comfortable conditions are available.

Treatment at home

Regardless of the drug chosen, treatment of pediculosis is carried out according to the same scheme. Algorithm for parents to do at home:

1. Before the procedure, it is necessary to test the drug to exclude the possibility of developing allergic reactions. To do this, apply a small amount of the drug to the child’s elbow area for 1.5 hours, during which time you need to monitor the baby’s general well-being and the condition of his skin.
2. If there is no allergy to the drug, then you need to start treating the head, which is carried out in a well-ventilated area. The selected product is distributed over the entire length of the hair. Some preparations are applied to dry strands, others to thoroughly blow-dried hair. To prevent chemical components from coming into contact with the eyes or forehead, the child wears a protective visor.
3. After applying the drug, the head is covered with polyethylene to create a greenhouse effect. The product is kept on the head from 15 minutes to several hours, depending on the manufacturer’s recommendations.
4. At the end of the set period, the mixture is washed off with water, after which the head is rinsed with vinegar solution. This will help dissolve the sticky mass that attaches the nits to the hair.
5. The last stage of work is the most monotonous and lengthy, judging by the reviews of parents. Using a fine-toothed comb, dead nits, larvae, and adults are carefully combed out.

Mechanical method

Nits are sometimes removed from a child without the use of insecticides. Some parents prefer only the mechanical method using a regular or electric comb, which can be easily purchased at any pharmacy. When choosing them, you need to rely on some nuances:

• inspect the tips of the teeth: the more they are rounded, the less the delicate baby skin will be injured when it comes into contact with them;
• choose the length of the teeth based on the length and thickness of the child’s hair;
• pay attention to the distance between the teeth - the smaller the better;
• choose combs with metal teeth, because plastic is flexible and will let nits and lice through;
• To treat a child, it is better not to purchase electric combs, since the length of their teeth is short and possible electric shocks will be too sensitive for a child’s head.

You can get rid of parasites with a few brushings. The process will be effective if you adhere to certain rules:

• wet your hair - this will increase the visibility of nits;
• stock up on hairpins and a small comb in advance to distribute the strands;
• start combing from the temples;
• comb your hair, starting from the roots to the ends (towards you), holding the comb over the strand;
• Separate the combed strand with a hairpin from the rest of the hair;
• After processing each strand, rinse the comb in water diluted with vinegar.

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Drugs

Pharmacies offer many different products for the treatment of head lice. Lice in hair are effectively removed by shampoos, creams, and ointments. Treating the head with an insecticidal spray, aerosol or lotion helps a lot. Anti-pediculosis drugs are classified based on the active substance that affects parasites:

• drugs Nix, Medifox, Nittifor - destroy the nervous system of lice, which leads to paralysis and death;
• insecticides Benzyl benzoate, Paranit, Para plus - penetrate the chitinous membrane of parasites, accumulate in toxic concentrations, causing the death of larvae and adults.

Among the most popular remedies among parents are emulsions and other liquid preparations. Available pharmaceutical drugs for head lice:

• Tar soap. Created on the basis of birch tar, which has disinfectant, regenerating, antipruritic, anesthetic properties. The soap has a very unpleasant odor, which repels insects for a long period after treatment. One of the components of tar, phenol, after contact with the skin of a louse, leaves burns, and benzene, also included in the composition, kills the nerve centers of nits. The process of treating head lice is simple: wash your hair with regular shampoo and rinse. Then tar soap is foamed on the hair and left for 15–40 minutes. Then the head is washed with running water and combed with a comb.
• Pedilin. An emulsion for children containing malathion, a substance belonging to the group of insecticides. This is a nerve poison that, upon contact with parasites, paralyzes and kills them. To treat the scalp of a child, you need to generously moisten the hair with the emulsion and rub it into the roots with a cotton swab. Afterwards, cover the treated area with a scarf for 3-5 minutes, then rinse off the product with water and thoroughly comb the strands with a thick comb. If necessary, the procedure is repeated every other day.

Shampoos for head lice

As a rule, parents buy shampoos to treat head lice. Their advantage is ease of use. The most popular children's shampoos against nits and lice:

• Anti-bit. To treat head lice, apply to wet hair roots, rub in for 3 minutes, then rinse off. The procedure is carried out twice. When using shampoo, side effects may occur: erythema, swelling, burning, itching, hair loss. The use of the drug is contraindicated in case of hypersensitivity to the components.
• Sifax. To get rid of ectoparasites, apply shampoo to damp hair for 10 minutes. Then the head must be moistened again and the preparation intensively rubbed. Afterwards the shampoo is washed off with warm water. The procedure is repeated every other day, then after 7 days. During the use of shampoo, allergic reactions may develop: erythema, skin itching. The drug should not be used if the child is hypersensitive to the components or at an early age (up to 2 years).
• Hygia. A highly effective shampoo that simultaneously destroys lice and nits. The method of application is simple: treat damp hair, leave for 20 minutes, then rinse with running water, comb through. Possible adverse reactions: rash, itching at the site of application. Contraindications for use: violations of skin integrity, inflammatory processes, age under 5 years, hypersensitivity to components.

Types of bloodsuckers

Lice are small parasites that live off humans. Their mouth organ is adapted for piercing the skin and has a special proboscis for sucking blood. If the parasite does not feed, this proboscis is retracted into a special capsule on the head.

There are more than 540 species of lice. Three of them parasitize humans:

• head;
• wardrobe;
• plateau (pubic).

This is interesting: types of lice in humans
Head louse and lice are able to stay only on the hairline of the human body. The hair on the head has a circular cross-section. The rest of the hair on the body is triangular in cross-section. The structure of the legs of parasites is also different. One is able to stay solely on the hair of the head, and the other - on the body. That is why bloodsuckers live in a certain area and do not encroach on each other’s territory.

Body louse lives in the folds of clothing. It crawls onto humans only to feed. It occurs in people who do not have the opportunity to often change and wash their clothes: soldiers at war, beggars or tramps. This parasite is practically never found in children and clean adults. Without food, he can survive no longer than four days. In conditions where a person regularly changes clothes and performs hygiene procedures, the life of a body louse becomes impossible.

Pediculosis of the scalp is the most common condition. Children are especially susceptible to the disease. During games, children often touch their heads, exchange soft toys, hats and scarves, and girls exchange hair ties. All this contributes to the rapid spread of parasites.

And the rather long incubation period of pediculosis does not allow parents to immediately detect parasites.

Routes of infection

You can still hear the opinion that lice are able to fly or jump onto a person, like fleas. Fortunately, this is not true. Parasites can only reach humans through direct contact. This explains why children aged 3 to 9 years are more likely to become infected. It is the kids who often come into contact with each other during games. Moreover, the longer the contact continues, the shorter the incubation period of lice in humans will be. With prolonged contact, an impressive number of individuals will immediately have time to cross over, and they will immediately begin eating and reproducing.

In addition to direct contact, you can pick up parasites in other ways:

1. In the sandbox or pool. Insects can survive in water for up to two days. On the sand they can wait for their owner for several hours.
2. On combs, elastic bands or hairpins. This method of infection is most relevant for girls.
3. In the locker rooms. If an infected child removes his outer clothing, parasites may remain on the hood or fur trim. If you hang another jacket close, lice can move onto it and then onto a new owner.
4. While trying on someone else's hat or scarf.
5. Lice are able to wait for their prey, hiding in soft toys.

Treatment of head lice is discussed in the video:

Reproduction and incubation period

The incubation period of lice and nits in humans largely depends on how many individuals managed to move to a new victim at one time. If a person is attacked by a single male, most likely the victim will not know about his presence . The parasite will bite from time to time without causing much concern. The lifespan of a male bloodsucker is two weeks, after which he will die. Cases of such self-healing are possible, but rare.

It is much worse if a pregnant female and individuals of different sexes move onto a person. They will immediately begin to reproduce and lay eggs. There is no exact data on how many eggs a louse lays per day, even in the scientific literature. This depends on external conditions and ambient temperature. The female lives twice as long as the male. On average, she is able to lay four eggs per day. It turns out that during its short life one parasite can produce at least 130 offspring.

Females and males behave differently on the human body

The environmental conditions determine how long it takes for lice to emerge from nits. Parasites feel best at temperatures from +28° to +31°C. If the ambient temperature is from +26° to +29°C, the nit will mature in 8 days. It will be able to ripen faster, in just 5 days, if the temperature is higher and amounts to +31...33°C. Temperatures above +39° and below +21°C kill the larva.

The hatched larva is able to drink blood within half an hour after emergence. She must turn into a nymph. The time it takes to ripen also depends on the ambient temperature. The transformation period can last from 1 to 10 days.

The young nymph must mature a little and turn into a nymph of the second age group. This may take 5 days. It may take a week for the nymph to transform into an adult again.

Depending on the conditions and ambient temperature, the reproductive cycle of bloodsuckers takes from 16 days to 2 months.

Symptoms of the disease

The incubation period for head lice can last several weeks. The first bites are almost imperceptible. The parasite's saliva contains substances that reduce sensitivity in the victim.

As the parasite population grows, there are more bites. Anesthetic substances in saliva are no longer able to mask the itching. The body reacts to these substances with a strong allergic reaction. Itching appears, and at this stage it is almost impossible not to notice uninvited guests. Nits do not cause itching. Other signs of lice are:

• scratching, which causes the development of dermatitis;
• gray-blue spots on the scalp;
• inflammation and papules may appear at the bite sites;
• children sleep poorly, become lethargic and irritable;
• submandibular lymph nodes enlarge.

If head lice is left untreated for a long time, the hair becomes matted and acquires a putrid odor. Washing your hair helps, but not for long.