How to Catch Lice
"Pediculosis" is the ponderous medical term for a human lice infestation of the body or clothing. Various species of this pestilent little parasite can affect you, regardless of age, gender, race, or if you practice good hygiene. Head lice inhabit the scalp, notes the Mayo Clinic, and usually congregate at the nape of the neck and around the ears. Body lice migrate onto your person whenever they need a blood meal, then retreat to the seams of your clothes. Pubic lice ("crabs") generally inhabit the hair around the genitals, but can also migrate to facial hair--beards, mustaches, eyelashes and eyebrows. Perish the thought of pediculosis, but keep in mind the ways you can catch lice.
Instructions
-
Lice: How You Get Them
-
1
Have prolonged contact with someone infested with lice, head-to-head or body-to-body. This is the most common way of catching lice, notes the Mayo Clinic. Lice cannot fly, hop or crawl on the ground; they migrate from one person to the next. Children may get head lice during the ordinary course of play and social interaction, indicates the Centers for Disease Control, such as during slumber parties or sports. Crabs, on the other hand, are usually spread by having sex with an infested person.
-
2
Share personal belongings that shouldn't be shared. The Mayo Clinic notes that less commonly, head lice can be transmitted by using something that belonged to a lice-infested person, such as a hat, scarf, coat, hair ribbon, barrette, brush or other item of clothing. Items such as combs and brushes should be washed in soapy water at least 130 degrees F or soaked in rubbing alcohol for a half-hour. Clothing should be washed in soapy water at least 130 degrees F and machine-dried for at least 20 minutes, advises the Mayo Clinic.
-
-
3
Expose yourself to a lice-infested environment. Lice can live for a certain duration off the human body, loitering in bedding, towels and furniture. Head and pubic lice can go without a blood meal for up to two days before they perish, but body lice can live for up to seven days once they fall off a human host, notes the CDC. If you're at the right place at the right time, you may be fair game. Bedding and towels should also be laundered as described in Step 2. Anything that cannot be washed can be stored in plastic containers for two weeks. A thorough vacuuming of carpeted areas and furniture can't hurt either.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
The first-line treatment for lice is over-the-counter medicated shampoos or rinses, notes the New York State Department of Health. To make sure that you treat head lice, body lice and pubic lice appropriately and thoroughly, rely on advice from a health care practitioner (see Resources).
Don't blame the family pet if you catch lice--the CDC notes that lice that infest humans can only be transmitted by other humans or their belongings.
Although found all over the world, body lice are usually endemic to those living in crowded conditions, who don't have access to regular baths or clean clothes (such as the homeless or refugees); body lice can spread disease, warns the CDC.
