Pediculosis (All 3 types) Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Pediculosis (All 3 types) - Term Paper Example Pediculosis is a disease that is very infectious and can spread very fast by touch and contact with the infected person. It also spreads by fomites like sharing pillows, clothes, combs or hats with the infected person. The head louse or P. capitis and the body louse P. corporis are very similar in shape, with the head louse being slightly smaller in size. The P. pubis is very distinct is shape with claw like pincers like that of crabs. They suck blood many times in a day and reproduce very fast with a single female louse producing nearly up to ten eggs per day in its average life span of about 30 days. So if kept untreated it will spread very fast and besides causing severe itching in the infected body parts, may also cause secondary infection, furunculosis and sometimes has been known to be a vector of other diseases like the relapsing fever, trench fever and also typhus. The eggs laid by the head and body louse are shiny ovular structures known as nits and are fixed to the hair by chitin that is tenacious and so, extremely difficult to remove. The main symptoms of this infection as Craven and Hirnle (2008) tell us are that â€Å"Lice live on the skin, and their bites cause itching. Inflamed bit es can be seen along the hairline. Body lice suck blood from the skin and tend to live in the clothing, making them hard to detect. Clues to the presence of body lice are scratching and hemorrhagic lesions on the skin†(Craven and Hirnle, 2008). The louse while feeding, bites the skin and injects its saliva that causes severe itching which lead to excoriation. Pubic louse though mainly seen in the genital regions may also be found on the abdominal hairs, armpit hairs, facial hairs and in extreme cases, especially in children, on the eyelashes also. This variety is generally seen in adults and is sexually transmitted. Within a