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When not attached to a human, they are unable to live beyond three days. [5] Humans can also become infected with two other lice – the body louse and the crab louse. To make the diagnosis, live lice must be found. [5] Using a comb can help with detection. [5] Empty eggshells (known as nits) are not sufficient for the diagnosis. [5]
Aside from reproduction, nymph behavior is similar to the adult. Like adults, nymphs feed also only on human blood (hematophagia), and cannot survive long away from a host. [1] Outside their hosts lice cannot survive more than 24 hrs. [23] The time required for head lice to complete their nymph development to the imago lasts for 12–15 days. [1]
Adults can live for about thirty days, but if they are separated from their host they will die within two days. [12] If the conditions are favorable, the body louse can reproduce rapidly. After the final molt, female and male lice will mate immediately. A female louse can lay up to 200–300 eggs during her lifetime. [13]
Head lice feed on blood several times each day and tend to reside close to your scalp, which explains the itchiness and why it’s sometimes so difficult to tell that you have head lice.
Head lice are most common among young children — 6 million to 12 million lice outbreaks occur yearly in children between 3 and 11 in the US — though adults are vulnerable to head lice as well.
The discovery of head lice on a child's body no longer means they are guaranteed a day off from school, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A body lice infestation is treated by improving the personal hygiene of the infested person, including assuring a regular (at least weekly) change of clean clothes. Clothing, bedding, and towels used by the infested person should be laundered using hot water (at least 130 °F or 54 °C) and machine dried using the hot cycle.
Additionally, the DNA differences between head lice and body lice provide corroborating evidence that humans used clothing between 80,000 and 170,000 years ago, before leaving Africa. [34] Human head and body lice occupy distinct ecological zones: head lice live and feed on the scalp, while body lice live on clothing and feed on the body.
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