Risk factors:
(1) poverty and poor hygiene
(2) failure to wash and change clothing
(3) close contact with a lousy person
(4) sharing bedding or clothing with a lousy person
Refugees, prisoners of war, and homeless people are especially at risk.
Clinical findings:
(1) pruritic, reddish maculopapular rash
(2) lice or nits (eggs) on hairs
(3) nits (eggs), adults and nymphs in the seams of clothing
A louse may leave the host if:
(1) s/he becomes too hot (fever)
(2) s/he becomes too cold (death)
Complications:
(1) secondary bacterial infection of skin excoriations
(2) louse-borne diseases (louse-borne typhus, trench fever, louse-borne relapsing fever)
