It Takes Two to Tangle
What is a 3 word abomination that brings terror and cold fear to parents all over the world? Pediculus humanus capitis or the common head louse would have starred in U.S. Most Wanted List at the top, if we convicted this parasite.
Is there anything special about head lice? After all, why is this every parent’s worst nightmare come true? Because the common head louse is also incredibly resilient and difficult to remove.
Is there anything special about head lice? After all, why is this every parent’s worst nightmare come true? Because the common head louse is also incredibly resilient and difficult to remove.
The Data Is in – and It’s Not a Pretty Situation
According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, around 6–12 million kids are infested by those wingless parasites each year. Additionally, a single head louse while quite equipped to breed another generation of lice in your hair needs help of a male louse, to breed and spread. It does take two to tango – but head lice infestations sometimes occur with just one nit, hatched into a nymph. Understanding how these blood sucking buggers breed and spread can possibly provide insight into lice removal method.Let’s Examine a Louse’s Breeding Pattern
An adult louse can easily lay about 5-6 nits or lice eggs in a day. These eggs hatch in a week, into nymphs – which grow to be adults in a few more days’ time. This means we only have a small window of opportunity – before new nits hatch, in order to kill all lice and nits. How Do Lice Spread? This is the question that most parents have trouble comprehending. Lice are simple parasitic insects that require close proximity to their food source to survive. What is their food source? Us… or human blood to be exact! This means they won’t leave your scalp until a good reason comes along, usually over-population. Another thing to keep in mind is: lice cannot hop or fly. So how does this insect spread and infest people? By crawling really fast from an infested person’s head to another i.e. head-to-head contact is essential for lice to spread. Other less common but possible ways are through contact with clothing and items that came in contact with a lice infested person. Keep an eye out for the following sure-fire signs of an active head lice infestation!- Itching – usually caused due to an allergic reaction from louse bites
- Tickling – a feeling of something moving in the hair
- Difficulty sleeping and irritability – head lice are most active in the dark!
- Sores on scalp caused by constant scratching
