PRECIPITATING FACTORS

PREDISPOSING FACTORS
 Playing
 Young age
 Personal hygiene such as
 Close crowded living Clothing, headgear, hat, comb, hair brushes,
condition hair barrettes may occasionally play a role in
 Female the spread of head lice
 White or Asian race  Environmental sanitation
 Perhaps warm  formites
weather

The head louse is the most common of the 3 species. The average length of the head louse is 1-2 mm. Female
head lice are generally larger than males. The louse is wingless and white to gray and has a long,
dorsoventrally flattened, segmented abdomen. It has 3 pairs of clawed legs. Its average life span is 30 days.

spread by direct contact with an infested person

The female louse attaches her eggs (nits) to the base of the hair near the scalp, and the nits hatch 7–10
days later.

Moving lice or nonmoving nits may be seen on the scalp and hair. Each louse is approximately 1–3 mm
long and is whitish-gray in color. Lice crawl; they do not jump or fly. Nits are smaller, about 0.5–1
mm, white, and are firmly attached to the hair very close to the scalp.
 Small red bumps or sores may be seen on the scalp, neck, and shoulders. Occasionally, the lymph nodes
behind the ears or in the neck may be swollen and tender. Lice may sometimes be seen on the
eyelashes, causing the eyes to become red and irritated.

Because head lice infestations are quite itchy, scratching is common and may lead to resultant
infection or scabbing. In addition to an itching or tickling sensation, children may also be irritable or have
difficulty sleeping

Management and Treatmentt:

Wood's lamp is used to look for lice and nits. During this procedure, the doctor shines a black light at
the scalp, and the insects and eggs appear as yellow-green fluorescent spots.

Malathion lotion 0.5% (Ovide) – Kills lice and some eggs and can be used only on children aged older
than 6 years. Malathion can irritate the skin and is flammable. It can be absorbed into the skin, especially
if it is left on the skin for a long time, so follow the application directions exactly.
 Lindane shampoo 1% – This can be toxic and is absorbed into the blood stream and, therefore, is
not used much anymore it. This medication is used only when other medications have failed.
 Ivermectin pills – This oral medication is passed to the lice when they eat human blood. Again,
this is used only when other medicines have failed.

Prognosis
Treatments are highly effective in killing nymphs and mature lice, but less effective in killing eggs.

Causes of therapeutic failure include the following:

 Misdiagnosis
 Inappropriate treatment
 Noncompliance
 Insufficient application of pediculicide (ie, amount, duration)
 Lack of ovicidal activity of pediculicide and failure to re-treat within 7-10 days
 Lack of removal of live nits
 Lack of environmental eradication
 Sharing clothing, bedding and towels used by a person infested with body or pubic lice
 Failure to treat close contacts
 Re-infestation
 Resistance to pediculicide

Frequent use of pediculicides may cause persistent itching. Body lice can be vectors for diseases such as
epidemic (louse-borne) typhus, trench fever, and louse-borne relapsing/recurrent fever. Violation of the integrity
of the skin from a bite can lead to bacterial infection with organisms such as methicillin-
resistantStaphylococcus aureus (MRSA). More commonly, infestation with lice produces social embarrassment
and isolation rather than medical disease.