To properly deal with an insect, you will have to take into account all stages of its development. The average lifespan of an adult is 40 days. During this period (and this is 2 months), the louse takes on several hypostases (larva, nymph, imago).

• Incubation period. The incubation period of infection depends on how old the insect is on the body. In order for the larva to become an adult, it needs to go through intermediate molts. There are 3 of them in cycle: larva-nymph, nymph-nymph, nymph-imago.

• Cycle duration. The entire cycle (from larva to imago) takes no more than 3 weeks. The determining factor here is temperature environment ... The cooler it is, the longer it takes to ripen. Under sufficiently hot conditions, the development period is shortened.

Lice live on the hair of the face and body of a person. Can live:

Individuals living on the head are different from pubic ones. The latter have more powerful legs and jaws, more often they suck blood. They cannot live without constant food.

During her life, the female lays up to 150 eggs, which are attached to human hair at some distance from the skin. Under favorable conditions, after 5 days, the nit turns into a nymph.

The larva must receive food in the first hour after hatching, otherwise it will not be able to survive. After the first portion of blood, molt occurs, and the pest changes its appearance. But he will become an adult when he changes his chitinous cover two more times.

After the third molt, the adult stage begins. In a few hours, the adult male is ready for breeding, and the female makes her first clutch on human hair.

The life cycle lasts about a month. The female lays eggs after each feeding. In head lice, it occurs 4 times a day. Pubic, on the other hand, eat every four hours.

A head louse, falling on a person's head, immediately lays eggs. Fastens them at a distance of 1 cm from the hair roots. By the location of the nits relative to the hair roots, the duration of the infection is determined. Appearance- like flakes of dandruff.

Every day, one louse lays about 10 eggs on the head. Eggs are laid every 4 hours. Nits develop in the egg for about a week. They are born as the smallest individuals, the body length of which does not exceed 2 mm. They look like adult lice, but lighter in color.

Within 1 month, nymphs go through a full cycle of maturation, molt 4 times. In the last stage, the genitals are formed. Immediately after molting, the reproduction process begins. It is after the birth of the first or second generation of lice that the patient notices the symptoms of head lice.

The developmental cycle of lice consists of the egg (nits), larva and adult (imago) stages. An adult female lays an average of 10 eggs per day.

Thus, the complete life cycle head lice range from 45 days to 2 months.

Now on to the next question: How long do lice live outside the head?

The picture shows the life cycle of a head lice.

The louse is attached to the hair, lives right on it. After a meal, she injects juice and digesting material into the dermis. For a person, the process is palpable due to the appearance of itching.

Causes, symptoms and the incubation period of the disease

You can become infected with head lice through contact with a sick person. Most often, this phenomenon occurs in public places, for example, in schools and kindergartens, or in baths and saunas. The main cause of this disease is considered to be non-observance of personal hygiene. If healthy person uses a comb, hair clips, headdresses of the patient, then the likelihood of contracting head lice is very high.

Head lice symptoms:

• the presence of severe itching;
• the formation of ulcers at the site of skin scratching;
• the presence of a rash, boils;
• peeling of the scalp;
• increased hair greasiness due to secretion secreted by lice.

One female louse lays 3 to 7 eggs per day.

Examination of the skin reveals gray head lice. They are found at the roots of the hair. Today, there is a fairly effective way to recognize nits. For this, special electric combs and Wood lamps are used, which make it possible to easily detect the larvae.

After the onset of symptoms, you must immediately start treating head lice. If head lice is detected, the incubation period of lice is up to 3 weeks in the presence of nits on the scalp. The development of a nit to an adult takes 21 days. Body lice develop within 2 weeks, if the temperature of the clothes is at least 25 °, but if it is more than 30 °, then the incubation period lasts 7-10 days. Pubic louse overcomes a period of 5-10 days. In this case, nits do not hatch if the temperature is below 22 °.

The most common places where nits accumulate are the temples, neck, back of the head and the area around the ears. Pubic lice spread in the bikini area, on the eyebrows and eyelashes, causing discomfort in a person.

The incubation period of head lice with infection of the scalp can last up to 1 month, after which the patient develops the first symptoms of the disease, most often characterized by itching.

Wages

The smallest of the bloodsuckers, only 3 mm long. Female pubic lice are slightly larger than males. Their difference from other species of lice, in addition to the habitat zone, consists in a much greater appetite, to which they move sideways, tenaciously holding on to the hairs.

Lice development stages

Nits develop from 7 to 10 days. Body lice eggs can develop for up to 2 months, provided that the nit develops when room temperature... At low temperatures, development can take up to a year.

When the temperature drops to -1 ° C or lower, nits can survive for only one week. As for the development of a nymph, or larva, the process also proceeds faster - under favorable conditions in 15-20 days. Adult lice live for 40 to 46 days. The life span of insects living on garments is about 40 days.

Despite the fact that the life of a louse is fleeting, it manages to go through several stages. The insect has only 3 molts. They begin every time the chitinous "clothing" for a nymph becomes small. When the third molt ends, the nymph becomes an adult insect. The female can lay 2 - 4 eggs per day. During its short life, the louse manages to lay 140 eggs.

Although head lice and head lice different structure, their individuals placed in limited space, begin to interbreed with each other. After several generations, the differences disappear.

When the larva hatches from the egg, the insect can pierce the lid of the nit with its jaws, but is unable to get out of it on its own. The larva begins to breathe actively. In this case, the air passes through digestive system insect and comes out through anus... When the air collects at the bottom of the nits in a large number, he pushes the larva out of the cap, which gets on the scalp and begins to suck blood.

Stages of development

How to get rid of lice from a child (video)

Most medical products contain toxic substances, so they are not recommended for the treatment of head lice in women during pregnancy and when breastfeeding. The same applies to people with asthma and children. They are advised to use only mechanical method treatment. To do this, you need to purchase a special comb.

A well-known way to get rid of lice is the Shepherd's method. Its essence lies in combing out lice using a unique technique. This method can be used both in the clinic and at home.

For the highest efficiency, treatment should be approached comprehensively. It is necessary to examine all family members where a patient with head lice was found. You should also start treatment of the disease at the time in order to avoid serious consequences.

Infection

Head lice lay eggs by attaching them to the hair. After a week, larvae begin to hatch from the nits, after another two weeks they will turn into adults.

The real symptoms of lice on the head begin to be felt after three to four weeks. During this time, nymphs of the first generation manage to hatch and grow up, which are already massively beginning to bite the human scalp.

Under favorable conditions, after three weeks, the second generation of lice appears on the head, and thanks to the large number of them, they already cause serious itching and well-expressed discomfort.

Thus, in this case, such an incubation period in lice can be considered equal to three weeks. It is during this period that all the signs of head lice appear on the head: nits, irritation, itching, as well as the possibility of infecting other people.

The main and most common way of transmission of lice is contact, from person to person. This can happen with hugging, kissing, and other close contact.

Possible, but less common, the path of infection with head lice through bed linen and pillows. More often, infection occurs with joint sleep. Very rarely, but infestation of lice during swimming in stagnant water is not excluded, if people with head lice are swimming nearby.

Most often, head lice infection occurs in summer time years, in crowded places - in children's camps, kindergartens, etc.

Not a single person is immune from infection with head lice. Of course, systematic hygiene procedures are the main methods of prevention, but they do not exclude the possibility of infection.

Now you know how long a louse lives on the head, whether lice live outside the head and whether they can live on animals.

How to treat head lice for women during pregnancy, children and asthmatics

First of all, you must follow several rules of personal hygiene:

• wash the body regularly;
• change bed linen every 7 days, underwear - daily;
• comb your hair every day;
• regularly clean the premises;
• if necessary, wash clothes and clean personal hygiene items;
• it is strictly forbidden to use other people's things;
• avoid contact with people with head lice.

After nits are found, general disinfection should be carried out. All towels, bed linen and clothing must be heat-treated. It is not recommended to leave the house for several days. If nits have been found in a child, he should not go to school or kindergarten for a while.

If a body louse is found, all the patient's clothes and bedding should be treated with a special solution, it is necessary to wash things in hot water, and after drying, treat with an iron with hot steam. It is recommended to dry clothes in a straight line. sunbeams... It is recommended to hang washed clothes outside at temperatures below 0 °. If this is not possible, then you can put the laundry in the freezer.

To wash your hair, you should select special medicated shampoos. The most common are Veda, which includes phenothrin, which kills nits, Hygia and Biosim, which are based on permethrin, and Nit fries, which contain essential oils.

Sprays can be used to treat pubic and head lice. They are quite convenient to use, you can take them with you on the road. Popular are Lavinal, Para-Plus, Pedikulen Ultra based on anise oil.

Instead of shampoo, you can use special solutions or lotions. The most common brands are Medifox and Pedex, the main component of which is permethrin.

It is recommended to use aerosols for treatment of bed linen and clothes of the patient. It is strictly forbidden to apply them on the skin, since they contain a high concentration of toxic substances. The most famous are A-nap aerosols and Bed Bug Terminator.

Creams are considered unpopular, but no less effective. Basically, they have a detrimental effect on pubic lice. The most famous brands are Nittifor and Nix, which contain permethrin.

There are two main methods of dealing with head lice. For effective treatment lice will need to combine these methods and act in a comprehensive manner.

The chemical method is carried out using:

• creams;
• shampoos;
• aerosols;
• lotions.

Choosing the most effective remedy, it is necessary to read the instructions for use and correctly calculate the dosage.

When head lice is diagnosed, treatment at home can be carried out using time-tested folk remedies.

If a person has lice, treatment can be carried out using elecampane infusion. For the preparation of the medicine, both the herb and the roots of the plant are required. All this is crushed and filled with boiling water at the rate of: 5 tablespoons of dry raw materials per liter of boiling water. You need to infuse the herb for at least an hour. Then they wash their hair with this product.

Vinegar is an odd method of dealing with lice. About 50 grams of salt and 5 grams of alcohol are added to a glass of wine vinegar. The solution is applied with caution to washed hair. For the procedure, take gauze, moisten it with the resulting product, and then hold it on your head, the longer the better. This medicine will help relieve itching and greatly relieve the condition.

Before starting treatment with folk remedies at home, it is better to consult a doctor, a specialist will tell you how to get rid of lice with the help of medicinal herbs.

Pediculosis is a rather unpleasant disease, but it is not difficult to cure it. There are many ways to do this; a doctor will help you choose the most effective one.

Now that you know how lice become infected, how lice breed on the head, how many nits an adult lays per day, and after what time the cubs hatch from the nits, it will be clear why the treatment must be repeated several times. There are many medications aimed at inhibiting the vital functions of insects or their destruction.

All remedies for lice can be divided into those that kill only live individuals, and those that also kill nits (drugs for head lice - pediculocides with ovocidal activity). There are no less popular methods of dealing with head lice. Read more about pharmaceutical preparations here, and about folk remedies against lice.

Majority drugs NOT EFFECTIVE against nits and therefore re-treatment of the head is imperative. Nit killers contain MALATHION. If there is any chronic diseases, as well as when treating children under two years of age, it is better to consult a doctor for correct selection medication.

Now that you know how lice become infected, how lice breed on the head, how many nits an adult lays per day, and after what time the cubs hatch from the nits, it will be clear why the treatment must be repeated several times.

An interval of 7 days is required for the effect to take hold. If, after the first treatment, some nits manage to survive, then the larvae that hatch after a week can "start" the process from the very beginning.

In order not to meet with head lice without having said goodbye, a week after the first treatment procedure, it is necessary to repeat the "session" of head treatment with the chosen remedy. How to handle household items is written in the memo on the prevention of head lice in children.

"Pedikulen Ultra" destroys lice and nits in one application

Modern drugs help fight lice:

• Shampoo-cream Nok
• Nittifor
• Hygia shampoo
• Aerosol Pair plus
• Permethrin ointment

If head lice is found, children should be shown to a pediatrician. The doctor will prescribe treatment, give advice on how to get rid of lice

Combing out nits - important stage in the treatment of head lice

You can get rid of lice different methods... It is necessary to strictly follow the instructions of the drug. In some cases, a doctor's consultation is required!

How to get rid of lice?

Knowing that lice do not live long outside the head, you need to find efficient way getting rid of them. These not harmless creatures, among other things, are carriers of such dangerous diseases like typhoid.

You can find out about head lice by characteristic features... The person is tormented by itching. Bluish marks appear on his skin. A person's health and mood worsens, sleep is disturbed. If, during the examination, uninvited guests were found, you must go to the pharmacy. Tell us about the problem and the pharmacist will advise you on the best remedy.

It is necessary to do this, since lice live without a person for several days, and if suddenly the absent individual "decides" to return, preventive measures will be necessary.

Sometimes you can apply a radical method - shaving baldly. Combing is much more common. The method works great in combination with the application medicines... Special combs quickly free hair from nits and lice. They are not difficult to use. Treat your head with the product.

Treatment with folk remedies

First of all, you must follow the instructions. Only 1 drug should be used so as not to cause allergic reactions in the patient due to the high content of toxic substances. It is enough to apply the purchased product only once. If the affected areas are subjected to repeated treatment with the drug, then the risk of developing intoxication is high.

The room where the person infected with head lice is located must be regularly ventilated.

Before starting the treatment of the scalp, you need to put on a bandage on the patient to avoid getting the drug on the face and eyes.

Do not use regular shampoos or conditioners without first applying remedy, since after their use, a thin film forms on the skin, which prevents the penetration of drugs onto upper layer skin.

During the incubation period and during the treatment of the disease, it is not recommended to use a hair dryer to dry your hair.

Vinegar is a very popular remedy for removing nits and lice. It is necessary to take vinegar 9%, dilute with water in equal proportions and apply to hair, then put a plastic cap on your head and leave for a while. To accelerate the effect, salt and rubbing alcohol can be added to the vinegar, but it is strictly forbidden to use such a mixture for those who have ulcers and wounds on the head.

Mayonnaise can be used to treat head lice. The dense, oily consistency restricts access to oxygen, so the lice die. Instead of mayonnaise, you can take petroleum jelly, it works on the same principle.

One of useful plants for the prevention of head lice, wild rosemary is considered. It is necessary to grind its leaves and add to them pork fat in proportions 1: 4, then apply the mixture to the scalp and distribute evenly over the hair. It is worth remembering that the remedy does not get rid of lice, but only repels insects.

Oil is effective for eliminating nits. tea tree... To prepare a medicinal solution, you need to take a glass of heated water, add 5 drops of oil to it and apply it to your hair. Keep it on for no more than 40 minutes, then wash off with shampoo. You can add 15 drops of oil to your shampoo and apply it constantly while washing your hair.

Shampoos are considered the most popular remedy for head lice. They are mostly safe and do not require special costs... The principle of application is simple: just apply the shampoo to your hair and lather it thoroughly. Leave the foam on your hair for a while: half an hour or more. Exact time indicated in the instructions for each drug. For this period, it is better to cover the head with a plastic bag. This will enhance the healing effect.

There are other shampoos as well. Select suitable option the attending physician will help. A week after the procedure, you need to check its effectiveness. If individual individuals remain in the head, the nits have not disappeared, then the procedure must be repeated.

After using the drug, a scarf is put on the head or wrapped in polyethylene. The duration of the agent is indicated in the instructions, after which it must be washed off.

Prophylaxis

To avoid infection, you must follow the rules of personal hygiene:

• you should have your own comb;
• you can not wear other people's hats;
• it is not recommended to use a shared towel.

If there have been cases of pediculosis infection in a family or children's groups, preventive measures should be taken and the head should be treated with pediculicidal drugs.

This article reveals the essence of such a disease as head lice, the causes of its occurrence and methods of treatment. It also discusses the main types of lice, their life cycle.

1. pubic louse;
2. human louse, the latter of which is subdivided into head and body louse.

Pubic louse

They give rise to a disease of pubic lice, in which incredible discomfort is felt, primarily in the pubic bone, anus, less often in the armpits, as well as in the scalp of the face and torso.

The head is an area that is not susceptible to infection, since it has a round hair section, and the legs of a louse are arranged in such a way that it is held only on triangular hair.

Head louse

The main food is blood, which is secreted as a result of biting through the skin, which causes severe itching. Such a louse can live without food for up to two days.

Its life span is short - 45 days, but the danger lies in the fact that they are very fertile: a young louse lays about 15 eggs per day, which ripen on 7-8 days, and are able to reproduce themselves.

Cootie confirms the belief of many people that lice are only found in unclean people, because she lives on those clothes that are rarely washed and lives on those people who do not properly observe the rules of personal hygiene.

In addition to unpleasant itching on the body in places of contact with clothing, it is a source of infection with such serious infections as typhus, Volyn fever, relapsing fever.

Since head lice are the most common among infected people, let's take a closer look at the life cycle of head lice. .

Life cycle of head lice

On average, it is believed that the life cycle of head lice is 3-4 weeks (in best case- 16 days, at worst - 40 days), during which the louse lays 2-3 hundreds of nits.

Moreover, the life cycle includes several stages of development:

1. Fertilization.
2. Laying eggs- the nit is attached by the mother to the hair of a person with a sticky liquid a few centimeters from the scalp, which makes it stable when washing the head. The duration of this stage is about a week.
3. Larva. The nit turns into a larva, which takes 1 to 10 days to form, depending on the surrounding conditions.
4. Nymph. The larva, having thrown off the skin, turns into a nymph, which is an insufficiently mature individual. The duration of this stage is a week, during which the nymph sheds two more times and turns into a formed louse.
5. Adult insect - imago has the peculiarity of multiplying and laying eggs already two days after its first sample of food.

How long does a louse live without a person?

As noted above, the body louse can live without a person for up to 4 days, the head louse - up to 2, and the pubic louse - up to 9 hours. Moreover, their life expectancy decreases or increases depending on the air temperature.

Causes of head lice

The main causes of pediculosis infection are:

• Infection from another person
• Non-observance or insufficient adherence to the rules of personal hygiene
• Ignorance or neglect of prevention methods
• Frequent change of sexual partners
• Finding a person in crowded places with exacerbation of head lice (during war, hunger strikes, catastrophes, as well as mass relocations).

The mechanism of head lice infestation

Lice transmission methods

The main method of transmission of lice is by contact. This can be contact both directly with the person himself, and with items of personal use.

For example, infection can occur in the following ways:

• So, head lice crawl from one head to another.
• Pubic lice are spread through sexual intercourse.
• Body lice can be contracted by contact with the clothing they inhabit.
• You can also become infected with head lice through personal hygiene products, such as a hairbrush, hairpin, hat, scarf, etc.

Optimal conditions for the spread of lice

There is an opinion that lice appear only in people living in socially disadvantaged conditions. But this is not so, because most often, well-off children aged 3 to 15 are sick with head lice.

After all, for example, in children's institutions, individual lockers are usually not provided, and lice can jump from one clothes to another in a common wardrobe. Moreover, these creatures, despite their small size, are able to cover distances of up to half a meter.

Lice appear on the head of an adult much less often than in children, but when living conditions are the closest, which can be found in people living in communal apartments, prisons, barracks or barracks, the likelihood of infection with head lice increases.

Also, among a marginal society, where there are unsanitary conditions and simply non-compliance with the rules of personal hygiene, it is an excellent habitat for lice.

Thus, optimal conditions the spread of lice for both children and adults is unsanitary conditions, crowded conditions and crowds of people.

At-risk groups:

1. Children of school and preschool age.
2. Persons who often change sexual partners (pubic lice).
3. Persons belonging to disadvantaged strata of society: homeless people, prisoners, drug addicts and alcoholics.
4. Soldiers living in the barracks.
5. Persons living in communal apartments, hotels, marriages.
6. Individuals who improperly follow the rules of personal hygiene.

Treatment

Pediculosis requires emergency treatment, since it does not go away on its own, and it is necessary to prevent the development of complications and further spread of the disease among the environment of an infected person .

There are two types of treatment:

• Medication.
• Treatment with folk remedies.

Medication treatment

There is a variety of forms of release of medications - ointments, shampoos, creams, lotions, solutions, powders, emulsions, aerosols. They are all chemicals and have an insecticidal, that is, antimicrobial effect.

There are also combination drugs and medicines based on vegetable and synthetic mineral oils.

Folk recipes

using folk recipes:

• Garlic gruel;
• hydrogen peroxide;
• cranberry or pomegranate juice;
• a mixture of kerosene and oil;
• vinegar;
• alcohol;
• salt;
• dichlorvos.

Folk remedies, despite the fact that they destroy lice, are not always safe for humans, especially for children. Therefore, they should be avoided or used with extreme caution.

One of the methods for removing lice, in addition to the main one - combing, is washing clothes that come into contact with the infected one, when high temperature, as well as its thorough ironing.

It must be remembered that the most effective way treatment is a comprehensive treatment. Also, in order to protect your loved ones from infection, you need to simultaneously treat all family members.

At all times, the statement was considered true - it is better to prevent than to render harmless.

Therefore, it is necessary to prevent lice infestation:

1. Personal hygiene rules must be followed.
2. You should only use your own personal hygiene products.
3. Long hair should be pinned or braided into a braid or ponytail.
4. Wash and iron the laundry regularly.
5. Avoid crowded places or keep your distance.
6. Regularly examine the hair of your children and loved ones by yourself or with the help of a healthcare professional.
7. Avoid marginalized individuals.

Conclusion

In our article, we answered the question of why lice appear on the head, and how to get rid of them. It should be remembered that preventive measures must be followed to avoid this unpleasant disease.

Lice development stages

Nits develop from 7 to 10 days. Body lice eggs can develop for up to 2 months, provided the nits develop at room temperature. At low temperatures, development can take up to a year.

When the temperature drops to -1 ° C or lower, nits can survive for only one week. As for the development of a nymph, or larva, the process also proceeds faster - under favorable conditions in 15-20 days. Adult lice live for 40 to 46 days. The life span of insects living on garments is about 40 days.

Despite the fact that the life of a louse is fleeting, it manages to go through several stages. The insect has only 3 molts. They begin every time the chitinous “clothing” for the nymph becomes small. When the third molt ends, the nymph becomes an adult insect. The female can lay 2 - 4 eggs per day. During its short life, the louse manages to lay 140 eggs.

Despite the fact that head lice and head lice have different structures, their individuals, placed in a confined space, begin to interbreed with each other. After several generations, the differences disappear.

When the larva hatches from the egg, the insect can pierce the lid of the nit with its jaws, but is unable to get out of it on its own. The larva begins to breathe actively. In this case, air passes through the insect's digestive system and exits through the anus. When air accumulates in large quantities at the bottom of the nits, it pushes the larva out of the cap, which gets on the scalp and begins to suck blood.

How to get rid of lice?

Knowing that lice do not live so long outside the head, you need to find an effective way to get rid of them. These not harmless creatures, among other things, are carriers of such dangerous diseases as typhoid.

You can learn about head lice by its characteristic features. The person is tormented by itching. Bluish marks appear on his skin. A person's health and mood worsens, sleep is disturbed. If, during the examination, uninvited guests were found, you must go to the pharmacy. Tell us about the problem and the pharmacist will advise you on the best remedy.

It is necessary to do this, since lice live without a person for several days, and if the absent individual “decides” to return, preventive measures will be necessary.

Sometimes you can apply a radical method - shaving baldly. Combing is much more common. The method works great in combination with the use of drugs. Special combs quickly free hair from nits and lice. They are not difficult to use. Treat your head with the product.

Pediculosis develops very quickly and, unfortunately, is unnoticeable for many. One female lays up to 4 eggs of future offspring per day. But what if there are 5-7 individuals per head? In a day, the head will be covered with many new eggs, and in a week a whole tribe of small ones will live in the hair uninvited guests... Trying to get rid of this disease, many are worried about the possibility of re-infection. "How long do lice live outside a person's head?" - this is one of the most popular questions of concern to people undergoing treatment for this ailment. Let's try to figure out this issue, drawing attention to some of the nuances that affect the life expectancy and development of insects. So how long do lice live.

Lice lifespan

In order to understand how long lice can live, let us first recall the life cycle of a louse from the moment the nits were formed.

Fact. In science, it is believed that lice do not have a larval stage of development. Therefore, the first stage is the formation of a nit egg, in the shell of which there is a louse embryo.

Terminology. The imago is the stage of an adult insect of the arthropod species, which have a complex stage-by-stage development. At the adult stage, insects are capable of reproduction and dispersal, but are no longer capable of development and growth.

Realizing the speed of development and reproduction of lice, it becomes clear how important it is to start treatment on time and stop their development.
Lice develop and multiply rapidly in the following favorable factors:

• the power source, which is a person, is always nearby. An adult feeds every 3-4 hours. When it enters the outside world, outside the human body, the head louse lives no more than 3 days. Pubic lice are less hardy - death from hunger occurs within 10 hours;
• the most favorable temperature for lice life is the human body temperature, fluctuations should not exceed 10 degrees Celsius;
• lice cannot live without air, so its absence leads to their death within a few days. This is used for the destruction of body lice - things are folded in a tight plastic bag and tied securely. The knot is left for a couple of weeks, after which the dead louse bodies are simply shaken off.

When it changes comfortable conditions the environment, lice slow down in development, multiply more slowly, or stop doing it altogether.

Lice lifespan outside the human body

Body lice live mainly outside the surface of the human body, crawling onto it only for food. Therefore, they are not so strongly dependent on outside temperature and other conditions. external environment... The main condition for their normal existence is that the food source must be within the reach of insects.
As for head lice, they are more dependent on humans. They eat more often than wardrobe ones, moreover, they are adapted to lay eggs only on the hair. Without a human, the head imago lives for 2-3 days at a comfortable temperature and in the presence of air. If the temperature drops below 20 degrees Celsius, the imago hibernates in anticipation of more comfortable conditions. This condition can last 1 to 2 weeks, depending on the temperature.
The pubic imago is the most sensitive to external factors. Therefore, having lost a power source, it can only hold out for 10 hours, if other conditions remain favorable. During the waiting period, the louse slows down in development and reproduction. With a decrease in temperature, it can live outside the human body for about a day.

The lifespan of a louse without a person depends on how long it can survive without food.

The lifespan of an adult louse is thirty days. It is during this time that the female lays about ninety eggs. After the incubation period (7-10 days), the nits hatch. In the next ten days, it turns into an adult. Then the cycle repeats again.

With regards to nits (lice eggs), then in this case the situation is different. Nits, enclosed in a dense shell, can remain alive without a person for 3-4 days and hatch only when favorable conditions for survival appear.

Can lice live in things

Tried all available funds in the fight against lice, and the problem of head lice arises again. What's the matter?

Blood-sucking insects are able to live and reproduce not only on human hair - this is a fact.

Lice live in textiles, namely:

• clothes;
• bed linen;
• upholstery of sofas, armchairs;
• pillows (and not always feathers).

The causative agents of head lice feed only on human blood. Hence, their habitat is closely intertwined with human skin.

Linen lice can go without food for a longer time. Therefore, they can most often be found:

• on clothes, in particular underwear;
• on upholstered furniture(the soft upholstery of the sofa and bed is especially susceptible to damage);
• on bed linen (pillows, blankets, mattress).

The body louse lives only on clothes. As soon as a person puts on an infected outfit, small blood-sucking insects immediately begin to bite him.

Is it possible to get lice without human contact

The problem of head lice is quite common, because many are worried about the question, is it possible to get lice without contact with a person?

Find out more where lice come from, how you can get infected with them, on our website.

Why do lice appear on the head?

Lice Causes and Treatment.