Human DNA can be extracted from the 'cement' head lice used to glue their eggs to hairs thousands of years ago, scientists have found, which could provide an important new window into the past.
Archaeology
Dec 29, 2021
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407
(PhysOrg.com) -- A new University of Florida study following the evolution of lice shows modern humans started wearing clothes about 170,000 years ago, a technology which enabled them to successfully migrate out of Africa.
Evolution
Jan 6, 2011
93
0
Essential oils could be a cheap and effective alternative to antibiotics and potentially used to combat drug-resistant hospital superbugs, according to research presented at the Society for General Microbiology's spring meeting ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 30, 2010
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0
A Florida Museum of Natural History study provides new insights into the complex, shared history between blood-sucking lice and the vitamin-producing bacterial sidekicks that enable them to parasitize mammals, including primates ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 14, 2017
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272
A new study offers compelling genetic evidence that head and body lice are the same species. The finding is of special interest because body lice can transmit deadly bacterial diseases, while head lice do not.
Plants & Animals
Apr 9, 2012
2
0
There are two species of lice that infest humans: pubic lice, Pthirus pubis, and human head and body lice, Pediculus humanus. A new article in BioMed Central's open access Journal of Biology suggests one explanation for the ...
Feb 11, 2009
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0
Parents and school nurses take note. Lice are a familiar nuisance around the world and vectors of serious diseases, such as epidemic typhus, in developing regions. New research indicates that lice may actually be quite ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 30, 2009
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0
For students, the start of the school year means new classes, new friends, homework and sports. It also brings the threat of head lice. The itch-inducing pests lead to missed school days and frustrated parents, who could ...
Other
Aug 18, 2015
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111
The citrus flavor and aroma of grapefruit—already used in fruit juices, citrus-flavored beverages, and prestige perfumes and colognes—may be heading for a new use in battling mosquitoes, ticks, head lice and bedbugs thanks ...
Ecology
Sep 11, 2013
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0
A new study seeks to determine how one parasitic species can give rise to two drastically different outcomes in its host: The human body louse (Pediculus humanus) can transmit dangerous bacterial infections to humans, while ...
Ecology
Jan 10, 2014
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0
Head-louse infestation or head lice (also referred to colloquially in British, Irish, and Australian English as nits) is a human medical condition caused by the colonization of the hair and skin by the parasitic insect Pediculus humanus capitis—the head louse. Typically, only the head or scalp of the host is infested, although the disease can occur in other hairy parts of the body, like leg hairs. Head lice feed on human blood (hematophagy), and itching from louse bites is a common symptom of this condition. Treatment typically includes application of topical insecticides such as a pyrethrin or permethrin, although a variety of folk remedies are also common.
Lice infestation in general is known as pediculosis, and occurs in many mammalian and bird species. The term pediculosis capitis, or simply "pediculosis", is sometimes used to refer to the specific human pediculosis due to P. humanus capitis (i.e., head-louse infestation). Humans are hosts for two other lice as well—the body louse and the crab louse.
Head-louse infestation is widely endemic, especially in children. It is a cause of some concern in public health, although, unlike human body lice, head lice are not carriers of other infectious diseases.
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