Pediculosis

Pediculosis can be caused by two distinctly different organisms, the head louse and the pubic louse. Although differing anatomically, they produce equivalent disorders, with itching, bites, and nits on the hairs. The head louse causes disease of the scalp, while the pubic louse lives in short hair in the pubic regions, the body, the axillae, the eyebrows, and the eyelashes. Both can be treated with gamma isomer of hexachlorobenzene, but various mixtures of pyrethrins seem more effective. The body louse, which exactly resembles the head louse, is the only one that can transmit disease. Treatment of body louse infestation is mainly cleanliness: washing the patient and changing his clothing.