Different types of lice, different from the disease. What are the types?
Lice, are small parasitic insects that can be found on the head, body, face, to the pubic area. Fleas survive by alighting in humans, which then makes you feel itchy. However, do you know if the types of fleas found in each area of the body are different from each other? What are the health problems that can be caused by fleas? Listen below, let's!
Head lice
Head lice are in the area of the scalp and neck, attaching the eggs to the base of the hair shaft. Head lice cannot jump or fly, they can only move by crawling. Therefore, head lice are usually spread through direct head contact which allows these pests to crawl from someone's hair to someone else's hair, for example, the use of alternating combs.
Compared to other types of lice, head lice cannot transmit any disease. Head lice can only cause mild symptoms, such as itching (pruritus) as an allergic reaction to flea bites. Other symptoms of head lice include the sensation of something moving in the hair, being unable to sleep due to itching on the head, and head injury due to scratches.
Body lice
Body lice live and lay eggs on clothes, and move to human skin to find food. Body lice can spread disease, especially if you don't maintain good hygiene.
Unlike many people think, it turns out dogs, cats and other pets do not play a role in the movement of human fleas. You can only catch fleas from other humans, not from different species like dogs.
Body lice are known to transmit disease (typhus epidemic, trench fever and louse-borne relapse fever).
- Typhus is a disease caused by infection with rickettsial bacteria carried by fleas and mites. When fleas and mites that carry rickettsial bacteria bite someone, the typhus-causing bacteria will then move and infect the body.
- Trench fever or trench fever is a disease caused by body lice. This disease is known as a five-day fever, with symptoms such as sudden high fever, severe headaches, back pain, leg pain, and body rash.
- Louse-borne relapsing fever is a disease caused by lice caused by Spirochaete borrelia recurrentis, a bacterium that is transmitted by lice in humans.
Pubic lice
Pubic lice are usually found attached to the hair in the pubic area. However, this type of louse is sometimes found in rough hair in other body parts. For example on eyebrows, eyelashes, beards, mustaches, chest hair, armpits, and others. Pubic lice are usually spread through sexual contact. Again, dogs, cats and other pets cannot transmit this type of lice in humans.
Pubic lice are caused by the Pthirus pubis parasite which is spread through physical contact such as vaginal, anal, and oral intercourse; kissing; and cuddle. Some complications that can be caused by genital lice infection include disorders of the eyes and skin, impetigo, furunculosis (appearance of boils on the skin), eye inflammation (blepharitis), and conjunctivitis (infection of the mucous membranes of the eye).
