Body lice

Body lice

overview

Body lice are tiny insects about the size of a sesame seed. Body lice live in your clothing and bedding and migrate to your skin several times a day to feed on blood. The most common locations for bites are around the neck, shoulders, armpits, waist and groin - places where clothing seams are most likely to touch skin.

Body lice are most commonly found in crowded and unsanitary living conditions, such as: B. in refugee camps and shelters for the homeless. They can also spread through contact with an infected person's clothing. Body lice bites can transmit certain types of diseases and even cause epidemics.

Clothes and bedding that are infested with body lice should be washed in hot, soapy water and machine dried on the hot cycle.

Symptoms

Body lice bites can cause intense itching, and you may notice small areas of blood and crusts on your skin at the site of the bite marks.

See your doctor if improved hygiene does not eliminate the infestation or if you get a skin infection from scratching the bites.

Causes

Body lice are similar to head lice but have different habits. While head lice live in your hair and feed on your scalp, body lice usually live in your clothing and bedding. They migrate to your skin several times a day to feed on blood.

The seams of your clothing are the most common places where body lice lay their eggs (nits). You can become infested with body lice if you come into close contact with a person who has body lice or with clothes or bedding that are infested with body lice.

Risk factors

People who are at higher risk for body lice live in crowded, unclean conditions. They include:

• Kriegsflüchtlinge
• Obdachlose Menschen
• Menschen, die durch Naturkatastrophen vertrieben wurden

Dogs, cats and other pets do not spread body lice.

Complications

Body lice infestations usually cause minimal problems. However, a body lice infestation sometimes leads to complications such as:

• Sekundärinfektionen. Wenn Körperläuse kratzen und graben, um sich von Ihrem Blut zu ernähren, können sie Ihre Haut reizen. Wenn Sie sich kratzen, um den Juckreiz zu lindern, kann dies Ihre Haut ebenfalls reizen. Wenn Ihre Haut durch diese Reizungen wund wird, können sich andere Infektionen entwickeln.
• Hautveränderungen. Wenn Sie längere Zeit von Körperläusen befallen sind, können Hautveränderungen wie Verdickung und Verfärbung auftreten – insbesondere um Ihre Taille, Leistengegend oder Oberschenkel.
• Ausbreitung von Krankheiten. Kleiderläuse können einige bakterielle Krankheiten wie Typhus, Rückfallfieber oder Grabenfieber übertragen und verbreiten.

prevention

To prevent a body lice infestation, avoid close physical contact or share bedding or clothing with someone who has an infestation. Bathing regularly and changing into clean clothes at least once a week can also help prevent and control the spread of body lice.

Sources:

1. Fragen Sie MayoExpert. Läuse. Mayo-Klinik; 2020.
2. Läuse (Pedikulose). Merck Manual Professional-Version. https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/dermatologic-disorders/parasitic-skin-infections/lice. Abgerufen am 25. November 2020.
3. Kang S, et al., Hrsg. Krätze, andere Milben und Pedikulose. In: Fitzpatricks Dermatologie. 9. Aufl. McGraw-Hügel; 2019. https://accessmedicine.mhmedical.com. Abgerufen am 25. November 2020.
4. Parasiten: Körperläuse. Zentren für die Kontrolle und Prävention von Krankheiten. https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/lice/body/index.html. Abgerufen am 25. November 2020.