Do lice jump on people's clean hair? Do they know how to fly?

If a person suddenly develops lice symptoms, they are not immediately visible. As practice shows, the first signs of lice in a person are so insignificant and unnoticeable that even a person who listens sensitively to himself will not immediately pay attention to them. It is believed that the problem of lice is associated with uncleanliness and unsanitary conditions. This is not entirely true, rather the opposite - lice prefer a clean head, because it is easier to get to the skin to suck blood. However, they also do not disdain to have a dirty head.

But how do you know if you have lice and not other types of parasites? First you need to figure out what they are and how they differ from other insects. The main difference between lice and other ectoparasites is that they live exclusively on the hairy areas of the body and head. Fleas rarely live on the human body and bite only on the legs, while bed bugs leave unpleasant bites on the back and sides.

What to do in such a situation? To get started, we recommend reading this article. This article describes in detail methods of controlling parasites. We also recommend that you consult a specialist. Read the article >>>

What are lice?

Lice are small, highly specialized external parasites that live on the scalp and other parts of the host’s body. They have a short translucent body with a small head and chest, three pairs of legs and a relatively large belly. The wings of lice are reduced, which is most likely due to their parasitic lifestyle.

Answering the question of what color a person’s lice have, it is worth noting that it changes depending on saturation. In their normal state, lice are light gray, almost whitish in color, but when sucking blood their color changes to dark red. The louse feeds exclusively on blood, which it sucks from the owner using a special oral apparatus in the form of two piercing needles. During a puncture, a special substance is injected into the human skin to prevent blood clotting, which causes severe itching.

Lice are perfectly adapted for parasitism: their strong legs are equipped with sickle-shaped claws with which they cling to hair.

Their body can withstand loads of up to 1 kg. Despite their small size (2-3 mm), they move very quickly across the host’s skin, preventing themselves from being captured. The average lifespan of lice is 38-39 days. They feed 2-3 times a day, while the female lays from 6 to 13 eggs per day. Needless to say, if treatment is not carried out, a person’s life will soon become simply unbearable.

Prevention measures

In educational institutions, to prevent head lice, children are periodically examined and a special log is kept. Your baby's head should be checked every week at home. The place should be with good lighting; use a fine-toothed comb and a magnifying glass. Children need to have a conversation about the dangers of head lice, routes of transmission, and symptoms.

• putting on another person's things;
• use other people's combs;
• hugging strangers;
• swim in the pool without a rubber cap;
• use other people's towels;
• spend the night in bed without changing bedding.

Symptoms of head lice do not appear immediately. Itching is caused by the saliva of parasites, which they release into the blood to thin it. Over time, the substance accumulates. An allergic reaction occurs and unbearable itching appears. With constant scratching, scratches, abrasions, and scratches form on the body and head. If the infection becomes severe, the wounds become infected and complications develop.

Despite the large number of remedies for head lice, the disease continues to torment people. To avoid trouble, it is necessary to adhere to the rules of prevention, check children’s heads, respond to itching in a timely manner, and carry out effective treatment. To get rid of linen lice, you need to tidy up not only yourself, but also your things and bedding.

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Do lice jump?

Another important detail - do lice jump or crawl, or maybe fly? Lice do not jump or fly. Their paws are tenacious enough to grab a hair, but they are not adapted to jumping. Lice have wings, but they are reduced, and the parasites do not use them in any way.

Therefore, answering the question whether lice jump or not, we can say with confidence that lice only crawl. Thanks to this, they cannot be transmitted from person to another over long distances; therefore, if a certain distance is maintained, it is quite possible to communicate with an infected person.

There are three types of lice - head, pubic and bed lice, the signs of which differ little from each other, except that head lice live in the scalp, pubic lice, respectively, on the pubis and legs (provided there is vegetation there). Linen (bed, clothes) lice are a very rare phenomenon, unlike the other two types, but sometimes they still occur.

When a body louse parasite appears, the symptoms are as follows:

• this is the largest of all types of lice (measuring from 2.2 to 4.6 cm in length);
• unlike its relatives, it sucks blood on open areas of the skin;
• Body lice have relatively long antennae and a smooth, large abdomen without pronounced segments.

The linen louse lives mainly in the folds of underwear. It is dangerous because it is a carrier of diseases such as typhus and relapsing fever. To get rid of linen lice, it is enough to treat clothes with an insecticide and wash them well (or boil them). It is also important to air the laundry in the sun for a week after treatment.

Distribution methods

In order for us to be able to answer the question of whether lice jump, we need to become familiar with all the methods of infection by these parasites.

These insects spread in places where large crowds of people live. At the same time, they do not have good conditions for maintaining personal hygiene. Where are head lice and body lice most commonly found:

• Communal apartments.
• Barracks.
• Refugee camps.
• Barracks and so on.

Let's look at how insects spread.

1. Parasites can crawl from one person to another. This is possible during close contact (sharing a bed) or while children are playing.
2. Transmission through hygiene and household items. This includes a comb, a towel, elastic bands, hairpins, hoops, and so on.
3. Use of shared clothing. However, the head variant can be transmitted through a hat, cap, scarf, jacket or other clothing with a hood. A body louse can live on absolutely any item of clothing.
4. The rarest case is infection through bedding or pillows.
5. Infection occurs no less frequently in public bathing areas. Not many people know that lice can survive in water for up to 2 days.

Debunking myths, or how lice are not transmitted

There are a lot of myths about lice, and some of them are such strong universal stereotypes that their refutation causes real bewilderment.

This has been said before. Lice cannot jump and do not jump from head to head.

Myth 2. Lice are transmitted over a distance in dirty apartments

Lice cannot be transmitted over a distance. And the sanitary condition of the premises itself can only indirectly influence their transmission (after all, in such apartments basic rules of personal hygiene are often not observed).

Appearance of a head louse

Myth 3. Head lice are only transmitted from children.

An absolutely unfounded statement - head lice equally actively infect and spread to both children and adults.

Myth 4. Lice are only transmitted through sexual intercourse.

Pubic lice are transmitted through sexual intercourse. Head parasites can be transmitted both through sexual contact and simply through close physical contact - hugging, wrestling, mother caring for a child.

Myth 5. Lice are transmitted from pets

This misconception is so common that lice on pets should be discussed separately.

Prevention

There are very simple measures that can help avoid lice infestation:

• Compliance with personal hygiene rules.
• Regular washing of head and body.
• Regular replacement of bed and underwear.
• Avoiding close contact with sick and socially disadvantaged people.
• Regular head examination in children.
• Avoiding the use of shared items (combs, hats, elastic bands, towels, etc.).

If you suddenly get lice, don't panic. Go to the pharmacy and buy a remedy for head lice. Be sure to read the instructions before use. Of course, do not forget about preventive measures.

Pediculosis is a parasitic disease caused by small insects - lice. At risk are disadvantaged families, people without a fixed place of residence, and children under 14 years of age. There are several types of human lice - head, body, and pubic. Parasites live for about 40 days, multiply quickly, and feed on blood. By knowing how lice are transmitted, the possibility of infestation can be minimized.

Do lice spread from animals to humans?

Neither so-called dog or cat lice are transmitted to humans. This is due to the characteristics of lice and lice in general - each type of these parasites is strictly specific to its owner and cannot live and live on other types of animals.

The cat lice lives on cats, the canine lice lives on dogs, and in everyday life they are called lice only for the similarity in appearance with the human louse. But when they land on the body of an animal of another species, including humans, these insects quickly die.

Dog lice are not transmitted to humans even through close contact, such as when the animal sleeps on a bed with a person. By the way, lice in cats and dogs are not transmitted not only to humans, but also to these species from one to another - that is, the cat lice eater cannot live on dogs, and the canine lice eater cannot live on cats.

Types of disease

We will talk about whether lice jump in a separate section of the article. And now we propose to consider the types of the disease. There are three types of parasites:

Head lice are more often found in people with long hair. There are a lot of possibilities for infection. The most common:

1. Close contact with someone who has lice.
2. Using one headdress.
3. Shared hairpins, bows, comb with a person with lice.

Lice are noticed by the itching caused by the bites. Some people develop rashes, papules, or blisters.

Body lice live on human clothing and move to the body only to feed. There is a high probability of infection among those people who do not have the opportunity to wash themselves and change clothes (socially disadvantaged population, homeless people).

Pubic lice live on the hairy parts of the body:

• Itching.
• Rashes (papules).
• bluish spots 2-3 mm in diameter (pubic lice are capable of destroying hemoglobin in blood vessels).

Can lice appear because of “nerves”?

The appearance of lice due to stress is a myth. Nervous experiences have nothing to do with head lice, especially if there has been no contact with an infected person. Under the influence of stressful situations, skin itching may occur, which is one of the symptoms of lice. But for this disease there must be other manifestations.

However, during a period of anxiety, a person’s hormonal background changes, the sweat glands work more actively, and the blood pulsates more strongly. Therefore, such a person is more attractive to these parasites.

How to distinguish living nits from dead ones?

There are several ways to determine whether there is a parasite embryo inside the shell. External signs of live nits:

• light shade (white, milky, beige);
• there is shine;

• the shape is correct - oval, there are no dents;
• If you try to crush the shell with your nails, you can hear a fairly loud click.

When studying the question of how to distinguish live nits from dead formations, you should pay attention to a number of features that characterize dry parasite eggs:

• lack of shine, the nit looks faded;
• color changes from light to gray-yellow;
• on one side you can see a hole - when the larvae appear, the lid opens;

• you can see dents on the surface;
• When you try to crush dead nits with your fingernails, there is no characteristic sound.

Photo of dead nits Live nits on hair

How are lice transmitted in children and how quickly do they spread?

The largest number of diseases occurs in children of school and preschool age. This amount is due to the fact that children have more contact with each other than adults. Outdoor contact games, exchanging clothes, using various accessories such as hair ties and headbands - all this increases the risk of infection several times.

Outbreaks of head lice usually occur in September, when children return to school after the holidays. Pediculosis spreads instantly. Therefore, as soon as a child has lice, he is not allowed to attend classes.

In kindergarten the situation is similar to school. In addition to contact games, small children, due to their age, can confuse things and use other people’s things. Also in preschool institutions there are sleeping rooms with closely spaced beds.

Diagnostics

Despite the high level of development of modern medicine, the only way to diagnose the disease is through examination. It is regularly held in all educational institutions (schools and preschools). The diagnosis is confirmed only when living individuals are detected, and not nits. Infected children are excluded from attending educational institutions and are sent for examination to a dermatologist.

The specialist conducts an examination using a Wood's lamp (for head lice) or a slit lamp (for clothing parasites). Sometimes microscopic examination of hair, nits, or live specimens is performed. A modern diagnostic method includes videodermatoscopy, which allows you to capture enlarged lice in a photo or video.

Getting rid of lice is a long and difficult process

Indeed, this used to be a difficult process, especially for girls. After all, everything was used: from cutting beautiful long hair in a crew cut to folk remedies.

Nowadays, it only takes a few minutes to treat head lice; modern medications protect the scalp and allow you to keep your hair intact. Especially if you have chosen a high-quality and proven product.

Currently, one of the best drugs for the treatment of head lice is Para Plus.

Para Plus is a product that contains three effective active ingredients (malathion, permethrin and piperonyl butoxide). They penetrate well through the chitinous cover of both adult lice and nits, which allows you to completely get rid of pediculosis after the first use of the product. Three active ingredients in the composition of the drug potentiate the action of each other, which makes them effective in the fight against insects that are resistant to other remedies for head lice. In addition, this combination allows you to reduce the application time to just 10 minutes !

Pair Plus is available in the form of an aerosol, which makes it easier to use for any length of hair, and can be used in children from 2.5 years old.

You just need to apply it to dry hair along the entire length, leave for 10 minutes and rinse with regular shampoo. After this, all that remains is to comb out the dead lice and nits well.

If the child’s hair is long and thick, there is a possibility that some areas of the head and hair will be missed during processing. Therefore, in such cases, it is advisable to repeat the procedure after 5-7 days.

Treatment

We have looked in some detail at what lice are. How to get rid of this parasite? Directions for combating pediculosis:

• Combing (mechanical method of removal).
• Specific drugs to combat the parasite.
• Prevention for people who have close contact with the patient.
• Pest control.

Please note that the use of special drugs for head lice is contraindicated for certain groups of people:

• Pregnant and lactating women.
• Small children.
• People with skin diseases.

As for combing, you should definitely wash your hair with conditioner before doing this. This makes the nits much easier to separate because the hair becomes smooth.

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Read further:

Can toxoplasmosis be transmitted sexually?

Dog worms: can they be transmitted to humans, what do they look like in feces and what tablets to treat

What lice and nits look like on human hair, in adults and children

Horsehair parasite: structure and description, life cycle and routes of infection

Thiabendazole: instructions for use, active ingredient, price and analogues

Long worms in cats: main types, description and methods of treating parasites in cats

Drugs

We answered the question about whether lice can jump, looked at treatment methods, now we’ll talk in more detail about drugs for head lice. They contain the following active ingredients:

• permethrin (Nittifor solution, Nix cream, Medifox gel, Para-plus aerosol, Veda, Veda-2 and NOK shampoos, Hygia solution).
• pyrethrin (Spray Pax aerosol).
• phenothrin (Anti-bit liquid soap, Itax liquid, Parasidosis liquid, Bin lotion, Phenol lotion, Sumitrin shampoo).
• malathion (emulsion and gel “Pedilin”, aerosol “Para-plus”).

Manifestation of symptoms

The signs and characteristic symptoms of the disease will help determine whether lice are present.

People often confuse symptoms. The scalp may itch in case of an allergic reaction to shampoo or dandruff. Before buying anti-lice products that are chemically harmful to the body, make sure that there are parasites.

The first and main symptom is itching around the ears, on the back of the head.

This burning sensation is especially felt before bedtime, when the body is as relaxed and immobilized as possible. When a bloodsucker bites, saliva is released under the skin, which, when concentrated, causes a reddish rash. Visually noticeable irritation indicates that the disease has been progressing for more than a week.

Signs of a lice infestation

What are the visual signs of lice? The main types of lice, pubic and head lice (underwear, clothes), differ visually. To ensure a correct diagnosis of the disease, arm yourself with knowledge of the main signs of the presence of insects.

Pediculus humanus is characterized by:

• The habitat of the bugs is exclusively the epithelium of the head.
• Nits on hairs. White cocoons are quite difficult to notice on light hair; they will shine in the light. A magnifying glass will help you accurately determine the origin of the transparent white ball.
• If the disease progresses for several weeks, the hairs will stick together in tufts. Long-term illness will affect local immunity
• The prolonged presence of parasites causes inflammatory processes in the body, which will affect the enlargement of the lymph nodes.

Are there any flat spots:

• The size is much smaller than that of head lice.
• Constant itching in the groin area.
• Visible wounds from bites begin to appear, which cannot be scratched so as not to leave scars.

Risk group

Why are children the most at risk group? Often, children do not choose friends based on social status; children do not care whether the family is prosperous. Children play together, in a group, constantly hugging and exchanging toys. The rapid spread of lice occurs in kindergartens and primary schools due to close contact with infected people.

Possible causes of lice infection and accompanying symptoms:

• Failure to comply with personal hygiene rules will be an excellent reason for infection. Kids happily exchange hairpins, elastic bands, and hats with friends. Parents need to convey to the child that they should not be allowed to use personal items of clothing or hair care.
• Playing in the sandbox and using one set of toys means that there is a fairly small distance between the kids, which allows the lice to move to a new victim.
• In a wide social circle of children, the likelihood of a “rot carrier” increases.

Important: preventative checks

Prevention will help get rid of the unpleasant consequences of the disease, which consists of constantly checking the hair on the baby’s head, because in order not to interfere with the process of socialization and comprehensive development, children need a team.

Cause of Misconception

Parasites multiply very quickly. The first thing they do when they find a new place of residence is lay eggs. It is very difficult to notice one insect. Firstly, for the first time it looks around and grabs the food supplies with which it replenished itself in its previous place. Secondly, the bites are not so noticeable. The head itches slightly and only some owners of insects begin to sound the alarm. Others perceive the body's reaction as a consequence of stress, nervous tension or fatigue. In about 2 weeks, life will begin in full swing. A new generation of hungry nymphs will begin to actively feed. One gets the impression that they appear instantly and in droves. Since it is difficult to explain the real causes of infection, they conclude that lice jump. At the same time, the capabilities of insects increase significantly. For example, they stood next to each other on public transport, or shook hands with a sick person. Only informed people will say: “No! This can’t happen!” The reason is more banal.