Here’s What Lice Infesting Your Eyelashes Looks Like

Here’s an eyebrow-raising sight. This month, docs in China reported on a uncommon case of phthiriasis palpebrarum, or an infestation of pubic lice on the eyelashes, full with clear photographs of the itchy offenders. Though it’s not clear how the lice ended up on the younger affected person, docs had been capable of deal with her infestation with no points.

The case report was published July 3 within the New England Journal of Medicine by docs Xue Feng and Hong Qi from the Peking University Third Hospital in Beijing, China. According to the report, a 8-year-old lady visited the hospital after experiencing three weeks of itchy eyelids. Upon examination, the eyelids had been reddened. And when the docs seemed nearer, they noticed the clear presence of grownup lice and nits on the lady’s eyelashes. The lice had been then confirmed to be Phthirus pubis, also called pubic lice or crabs.

Pubic lice, because the title suggests, are parasitic bugs that stay primarily within the pubic hairs round our genitals and feed off our blood. They’re a definite species from the lice that may stay on our scalp or physique hair (physique and head lice are very carefully associated to one another however are totally different in vital methods). But on uncommon events, pubic lice can migrate to and survive on the extra coarse hairs of the physique that resemble the pubic area, together with the eyelashes.

Obviously, discovering pubic lice on a younger lady would elevate considerations about her security. But the docs stated they didn’t discover lice on another a part of the lady’s physique, nor on her dad and mom. Ultimately, they reported not discovering any proof that the lady had been sexually abused. While these lice do generally unfold by means of sexual contact, the docs word that they can be transmitted by means of merely touching shared surfaces or objects that carry them, notably issues like towels, bedding, and clothes.

The lady’s lice and nits had been bodily eliminated and the garments and bedding of her relations had been washed in sizzling water and stored separate from hers, whereas sharing generally was restricted for a short while. Two weeks later, she returned for a follow-up with no itchy eyelids and no indicators of additional infestation.

Human lice of all types stay a standard nuisance, and, opposite to widespread perception, commonly plague all corners of society, wealthy and poor alike. But even in wealthier nations, these with fewer resources are much less capable of promptly search remedy for infestations, permitting the lice to unfold to others. It’s estimated that someplace between 6 million and 12 million infestations of head lice occur yearly within the U.S. amongst children ages 3 to 11.