The Lifespan of Body Lice
The life expectancy of body lice is an average of 30-40 days. Body lice typically attach themselves to clothes or human hair and then transfer to the human body to feed. Body lice are slightly larger than head lice and the primary difference in their life cycle is that body lice can live without its human host to feed from for up to 30 days. Body lice are small in size and flat in shape, which allows them to maneuver easily through the human body hairs and the fibers of clothes and bedding.
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Facts
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Body lice are considered a Pediculus humanus corporis, which is a parasite that can live in the seams, creases and folds of clothes. They feed off human blood and can also lay eggs and feces on clothes and human skin. A person can contract body lice by coming in direct contact with an infected person, clothes, towels or bedding. People with poor hygiene or who live in overcrowded conditions are at a higher risk to get body lice. Body lice are the largest type of lice.
Identification
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Body lice can be identified by the small red dots that develop on a person's skin after being bitten. There is usually some sort of inflammation around that area and may develop into a popular lesion. The toxic saliva from multiple bites may produce symptoms such as loss of appetite, headaches, joint pain, fever, irritability or a rash. If you are allergic to lice you may develop severe itching. If you have inhaled lice feces or parts of the lice's cast skins, you may have symptoms similar to hay fever.
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Time Frame
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The life expectancy of body lice is a month. Female lice can lay 200-300 eggs in a lifetime, which is an average of 6-7 eggs a day. The eggs of body lice become glued to clothes or body hair. If the egg is glued to body hair and within the warmth of body heat it may take an average of 5-10 days for the egg to hatch. When the egg is glued to the fibers of the clothes and the clothes are removed at night, the eggs may take up to two weeks to hatch away from body heat. Body lice are extremely sensitive to body heat and humidity; without a reliable source of blood, body lice will die within 2-5 days.
Prevention/Solution
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Body lice can be easy to control by changing your clothes regularly, particularly underwear; and dispose of affected clothes. To ensure that all lice are killed, wash all clothes in hot water. Good personal hygiene such as washing or bathing often can be helpful in controlling lice. Fumigating your clothes with an insecticide is another option. As a last resort, put your clothes in a plastic bag for a month. Since the life expectancy of body lice is 30 days, you should be able to see the lice and eggs dead in the plastic bag at the end of the month.
Warnings
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A continual infestation of body lice may result in the thickening and deeply pigmented skin known as Vagabond's disease or Morbus errorum. Skin infection can occur with frequent scratching. Body lice can also serve as host of organisms that causes diseases such as rickettsia and spirochetes. Although very rare, body lice can carry three uncommon diseases such as trench fever, epidemic typhus and epidemic relapsing fever. Body lice can only live in normal body temperatures and mildly humid environments that are close to human blood supply.
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