PEDIATRICS
Head Lice: Symptoms, Causes, & Treatment
March 27, 2020
Symptom Guides > Pediatrics > Head Lice: Symptoms, Causes, & Treatment

by
Dr. Zina Semenovskaya
Dr. Semenovskaya specializes in emergency medicine, and received her medical degree from Weill Cornell Medical College. She is currently the medical director at Remote Emergency Medicine Consulting, LLC and splits her time working clinically as an emergency medicine attending in California and Alaska. She is the first of our doctors to be fluent in Russian.
Lice are miniature parasitic insects that live on and impact the human body in a variety of ways. Though there are a variety of lice-related conditions that can affect people, including body lice, pubic lice, and sea lice, in this article I’ll focus on explaining one of the most common types: head lice.
Head lice are very common in children and can infest their person’s scalp, face, neck, and ears. They are highly contagious, moving between people by crawling from scalp to scalp during moments of close contact or hitching rides on shared belongings like brushes, hats, and combs. Once on a human head, they attach themselves to the scalp to feed on human blood, and lay their eggs at the base of hair shafts.
Though head lice are not considered dangerous and do not spread disease, they can be uncomfortable, and can lead to an itchy, irritated scalp. It is important to treat a head lice infestation right away to prevent spreading it to others, and to prevent the development of a secondary bacterial infection. If you suspect that you or a family member may be suffering from lice, this article will provide a comprehensive guide to the condition and explain how to get rid of lice for good.
In this article I’ll cover:
“The CDC estimates that up to 12 million American children under the age of 11 contract lice every year.”
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Worried your itchy scalp may be lice? Download K Health

by
Dr. Zina Semenovskaya
Dr. Semenovskaya specializes in emergency medicine, and received her medical degree from Weill Cornell Medical College. She is currently the medical director at Remote Emergency Medicine Consulting, LLC and splits her time working clinically as an emergency medicine attending in California and Alaska. She is the first of our doctors to be fluent in Russian.
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