Insects that have chosen dirty linen and bed as their place of settlement are linen lice. How to get rid of these parasites at home, where they come from and we will talk about preventive measures in this article.
Appearance of linen louse
Parasites are small, wingless insects with an elongated abdomen. The length of the individual is about 3 mm. They have one distinctive feature. The belly of a louse is transparent and when it gets drunk with blood, it can be seen that it turned red.
The larvae of parasites are called nymphs. Despite the beautiful name, they look almost like adult insects, only in a reduced size. Nits, or eggs, are similar to the head individuals. This is what a linen louse looks like. The photo conveys all the abomination of the parasite, and the desire of a person to get rid of them is quite natural.
The problem is that it is quite difficult to visually detect linen lice. This requires an increase. The females lay their eggs infolds of clothing, in folds or near pockets. In any case, they choose the most inaccessible place. Parasites can often be seen visually due to their habit of sticking together in swarms.
Habitat conditions
Not only unpleasant, but also quite a dangerous phenomenon - linen lice. How to get rid of parasites at home depends on their prevalence. Their main habitat is dirty clothes. But in order to receive nutrients for their life, they need to periodically move to the human body.
The problem is not only that lice suck blood. To reduce clotting and make it easier to get food, insects spray a special enzyme under the skin of the victim. Because of it, a person has allergic reactions and spots appear on the skin.
It is known that linen lice can withstand a fairly wide temperature range. Adult parasites are able to exist at temperatures from 0 to 45 ° C. Larvae require slightly more comfortable conditions, from 5 to 40 ° C. But for active reproduction, a warm and dry environment is needed, where the temperature is within 30 ° C. It is important to understand that when a person takes off his clothes, then its temperature drops noticeably and the activity of individuals slows down. High humidity has a beneficial effect on their body. Therefore, a sweaty person is an ideal victim for them.
Feeding lice
For life and activity, linen lice need to eat up to 5 times a day. At one time, an adult insectable to drink 0.5 mg of blood. Of course, if you take one individual, then the volume of blood drunk by it is small. But the problem is that they do not live alone. A flock is capable of causing great harm to a person. The skin turns red and bite marks appear on it if linen lice attacked.
Photos of bites and how to get rid of parasites so that they no longer appear, consider further.
Where do they live?
The clothes of vagrants are considered the most common habitat. It should be clearly understood that a one-time wash of clothes will not be able to solve the problem. Insects are so tenacious that they can survive in water for up to two days.
Sometimes, even if a person is hygienic, insects can appear in his things. Before deciding how to remove linen lice, you need to understand where they came from. After all, if you constantly contact the source of infection, even the most effective measures will not bring the desired effect.
Methods of infection
It is necessary to understand how parasites pass from one person to another. Among them:
- Close contact in crowded places (crowds, public transport, children's group).
- Purchasing second-hand clothes.
- Bathing in the pool and natural pond.
- Spontaneous clothing markets.
- Storage of clothes in common locker rooms.
Infection often occurs in crowded places. There is never a certainty that there is no person in the crowd who does not follow the rules of hygiene. With moreit is possible to pick up parasites in rooms where there is a frequent change of tenants. These can be rented apartments, hostels or student residences.
Summarizing the above, linen lice can enter a clean house if a person:
- visited a budget hotel;
- ride the train;
- tried on or bought second hand items;
- was on a camping trip;
- came from the camp.
If parasites were found on clothes, it is necessary to analyze the situation and understand the source of infection.
Why are they dangerous?
Linen lice are quite dangerous for humans in terms of infection. This is due to their lifestyle and way of eating. Individuals often live on people who lead an unsanitary lifestyle. Insects feed on blood, piercing the skin of the victim with their proboscis. Getting on the body of another person, they can infect him with various diseases. Bed lice bites cause:
- Discomfort, redness, itching.
- Allergic phenomena.
- Ulcers.
- Pyoderma.
- General malaise and irritability.
- Scratching leads to infection.
There were cases when the body louse became a carrier of typhus and Volyn fever.
Hunger strike
Dangerous parasites are linen lice. How to get rid of at home, it is important to know to everyone who has encountered them. It is known that individuals feed only on human blood. They do not live on the skin of animals. Accordingly, if the clothes are left for a week and notput it on, then the lice will simply die of hunger.
When a person changes their wardrobe frequently, they are less likely to get bitten. Therefore, homeless people and vagrants are ideal victims of these insects. They wear the same thing for a long time, and it is precisely such individuals that become the source of infection.
It must be taken into account that linen lice usually do not like smooth fabrics, woolen and "creaky". Their favorite place is cotton products and linen clothes. It can be seen that insects live on natural tissues. However, the hair is usually far away from the body, so they are rarely found in such things.
How to get rid of linen lice?
You can quite effectively get rid of parasites if you use special tools. Be sure to conduct a complete body hygiene and wear clean and ironed clothes. Other things should be washed at a temperature above 60 degrees. In this case, it is necessary to add "Karbofos" to the water. This will achieve complete disinfection.
If a thing is purchased in a second-hand store or there is a suspicion that it is infected, then you should hang it out in the fresh air. The exposure time should be at least a week. This is the only way to be sure that the lice died of starvation. After that, the thing should be washed and ironed. When ironing, pay special attention to pockets, collars and seams.
If you need to process a large number of things, then the best solution would be a steam chamber. With its help, you can get rid of a variety of parasites. However, such a deviceavailable only in industrial environments, so dry cleaning is recommended.
Folk remedies will come to the rescue
Linen lice are unpleasant and dangerous. How to get rid of parasites at home, it is important to know for everyone who cares about the he alth of the household. In this case, you can use folk remedies, such as:
- Vinegar. If you treat clothes with vinegar solution, then the lice die completely.
- Turpentine. Has the same effect and dissolves the shell of the insect.
- For sensitive people, you can recommend a decoction of tansy. Processing clothes with a decoction of a plant contributes to their death.
More grandmothers advised to cleanse the body of lice, you must use tar soap. With it, you can also get rid of the head variety of insects. To destroy nits, old advice recommends using cranberry juice.
Used to use kerosene. It even boiled things. However, this method is now difficult to advise. If the situation is running, it’s easier to throw out clothes altogether.
Industrial facilities
Many are interested in how to quickly get rid of linen lice. In this case, you can use the developments of the modern chemical industry.
- Shampoo "Bubil" - a good remedy for various kinds of lice. Recommended as a detergent.
- Medifox is a powerful insecticidal preparation against various parasites. The main active ingredient is permethrin, which actively fights lice. Designed for garment processing.
- "NOC" - similar in action to Medifox, because the components are almost identical.
- Shampoo "Pedilin". Differs in the low price. The advantage is that the product is suitable for washing the head, body and clothing.
- "Microphos" and "Karbofos" are highly targeted drugs. They have a nerve agent effect on parasites.
Any remedy for linen lice will help to cope with the problem. However, it is better not to be infected at all than to deal with the consequences.
Preventive measures
It is much easier to take preventive measures than to try to get rid of bed lice. To minimize the possibility of infection, you should:
- Stay away from homeless people and unkempt individuals.
- Do not enter areas where there is unsanitary conditions.
- While buying second-hand or hand-washed clothes, wash them at the highest possible temperature and iron them.
- On public transport, it's best to avoid being near suspicious people.
- In public changing rooms, underwear should be put away in a sealed bag.
- Take good hygiene.
Subject to these measures, it will not be necessary to decide how to get rid of linen lice. But if this happened, then you can find out by certain signs.
Signs of infection
It is quite difficult to visually determine that parasites have wound up on clothes. They may be suspectedthe following features:
- appearance of bite marks;
- the wounds itch and itch;
- redness at bite sites;
- sudden allergic manifestations;
- appearance of bluish spots on the skin;
- Children's restless sleep and crying for no apparent reason.
If such symptoms are noticed, then linen lice may have appeared. How to get rid of them (a photo of insects immediately makes you want to quickly end them) so that they do not appear again is an important issue that affects the he alth of all households.
All means are good
When the above symptoms are detected, it is important to treat as soon as possible. At the same time, attention should be paid not only to clothes.
How to get rid of linen lice in the apartment:
- Wash clothes and clothes with tar soap and rinse in a weak solution of vinegar.
- Drying is more effective in direct sunlight.
- Combs, hairpins, washcloths and other hygiene items should be boiled with vinegar.
- If the thing cannot be cooked, you can simply wipe it with a swab dipped in vinegar essence.
It should be understood that parasites can live on the human body and hair. So hot baths are a must. In this case, it is necessary to use tar soap for washing. You can use the economic one.
After hygiene procedures, it is better to put on new underwear or carefully processed and ironed on bothsides.
Conclusion
Unpleasant, but most importantly contagious - that's exactly what a linen louse is. How to get rid of them is discussed in this article. It can be noted that all means are quite effective and safe for humans. However, it is important to understand that lack of personal hygiene and being in unsanitary conditions can nullify all efforts.
Separately, it is worth mentioning the military. They often travel to the fields for exercises. The conditions there are not the best. Therefore, all things after the trip must be immediately processed. And do not forget about the bags.
All measures against linen lice are most effective at the initial stage. They should not be allowed to spread and multiply. Otherwise, special services will have to be called.
