Head Lice are human parasites and are transmitted by human contact with an infected person. They are not transmitted via animals, including the family pet. The reason why is because head lice, as mentioned earlier, are a human parasite and live off of the consumption of human blood.
They are generally small in size (adults can grow as large as a sesame seed) and dark in color (usually brown) making them often times hard to detect. Adult female lice lay eggs, referred to as NITs, as close as possible to the “host’s” hair shaft. The female bugs can lay up to 150 NITs in their life-cycle.
The medical term for a case of head lice is Pediculosis, or sometimes referred to as Pediculosis Capitis (infestation of the scalp with lice). They are considered to be contagious as they can be spread from one person to another, but are not considered to be a harmful disease.
Based on recent medical information, head lice do not normally carry or spread harmful diseases, and do not carry any harmful diseases. More often than not, they are best described as a nuisance than anything else.
Head Lice also do not travel through the air nor can they be transferred onto a human head from the ground. They have no ability to fly and cannot “jump” from head to head as was suspected previously.
Therefore, the most likely case of parasitic transferral is by clothing, including towels, sharing hair grooming tools such as a brush, hair barrettes, hair ties, or combs, or sleeping on the same bedding as that of an infested individual.
Water will not kill them. They go into a state of suspension, or hibernation when presented with an abundance of water such as bathing, showering, swimming, etc. and are well adapt at “hanging on” if and when necessary as is the case with water.
Adults cannot survive over 72 hours off of any given “host”. However, they can hide within furniture, clothing, or bedding within that time period so they can happily re-infest themselves onto the host’s head, or find another suitable host within that time period.
However, the NITs, or lice eggs can survive up to 14 days while not attached to a “host”.
The Life-Cycle Of The Head Lice Bug
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