Body louse
5482408
216878148
2008-06-03T17:05:10Z
Epbr123
1395162
Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/168.169.161.27|168.169.161.27]] ([[User talk:168.169.161.27|talk]]) to last version by DOI bot
{{Taxobox
| name = Body louse
| image = PediculusHumanus.png
| image_width = 250px
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Arthropod]]a
| classis = [[Insect]]a
| ordo = [[Phthiraptera]]
| subordo = [[Anoplura]]
| familia = [[Pediculidae]]
| genus = ''Pediculus''
| species = ''P. humanus''
| binomial = ''Pediculus humanus''
| binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]], 1758
| trinomial = ''Pediculus humanus corporis''
| trinomial_authority = [[Charles De Geer|de Geer]], 1778
}}
The '''body louse''' (''Pediculus humanus corpois''<ref name="buxton2">{{cite book
|last= Buxton
|first= Patrick A.
|title= The Louse; an account of the lice which infest man, their medical importance and control
|origyear=1947
|edition=2nd edition
|publisher=Edward Arnold
|location=London
|pages=5-23
|chapter=The Anatomy of ''Pediculus humanus''
}}</ref>) is a [[louse]] which infests humans. The condition of being infested with [[head lice]], body lice, or [[pubic lice]] is known as [[Pediculosis]].
==Origins==
Genetic analysis suggests that the human body louse may have originated about 107,000 years ago, with the ancestor of all human lice emerging about 770,000 years ago.<ref name="Stoneking">{{cite web |url= http://www.current-biology.com/content/article/fulltext?uid=PIIS0960982204009856|last= Stoneking|first= Mark|title= Erratum: Molecular Evolution of ''Pediculus humanus'' and the Origin of Clothing|accessdate=2008-03-24 |format= |work= }}</ref>
==Entomology and pathology==
''Pediculus humanus corporis'' (the body louse) is indistinguishable in appearance from ''Pediculus humanus capitis'' (the head louse) and under laboratory conditions they will interbreed. In their natural state, however, the two subspecies do not interbreed and occupy different habitats. In particular, body lice have evolved to attach their eggs to clothes, whereas head lice attach their eggs to the base of hairs.
Body lice are a nuisance in themselves and cause intense itching. They are however, also vectors (transmitters) of other diseases such as [[epidemic typhus]] and louse-borne [[relapsing fever]].
==Treatment==
Delousing can be practically achieved by boiling all clothes and bed clothes.<ref name="Raoult2006">{{cite journal | author=Raoult D, Roux V | title=The body louse as a vector of reemerging human diseases | journal=Clin Infect Dis | year=1999 | volume=29 | pages=888–911 | doi=10.1086/520454 }}</ref>
In fact, a temperature of 130° F or 55° C for 5 minutes will kill most of the adults and prevent eggs from hatching.<ref name=CIGNA>[http://www.cigna.com/healthinfo/hw51114.html Page] on website of [[CIGNA]]</ref>
Where this is not practical or possible, powder dusting with 10% [[dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane|DDT]], 1% [[malathion]] or 1% [[permethrin]] is also effective.<ref name="Raoult2006"/> If [[insecticide]] is not available, louse-infested clothes and bedding should be burnt on an open fire.
Medication is usually not necessary, as the problem normally goes away with daily bathing and wearing of clean clothes.<ref name=CIGNA/>
Oral [[ivermectin]] at a dose of 12mg on days 0, 7 and 14 has been used in a small trial of 33 people in [[Marseilles]], but did not result in complete eradication, although there was a significant fall in the number of parasites and proportion of people infected.<ref>{{cite journal | author=Foucault C, Ranque S, Badiaga S, ''et al.'' | title=Oral ivermectin in the treatment of body lice | journal=J Infect Dis | volume=193 | issue=3 | pages=474–6 | doi=10.1086/499279 | year=2006 }}</ref> At the moment, ivermectin cannot be routinely recommended for the treatment of body lice.
==See also==
*[[Pediculosis]]
*[[Nitpicking]]
*[[Head louse]]
*[[Crab louse|Crab (or pubic) louse]]
==References==
<references/>
<br>
{{Human lice}}
[[category:Lice]]
[[de:Kleiderlaus]]
[[ms:Pijat]]
[[nl:Lichaamsluis]]
[[sr:Телесна ваш]]
[[fi:Vaatetäi]]
[[sv:Klädlus]]
[[ru:платяная вошь]]