What is the incubation period for pubic lice?

Pubic lice develop from insect eggs. They can be itchy, causing inconvenience and pain in your life. They are contagious, so if you have pubic lice, you must pay attention to isolation. Pay attention to the hygiene of items you come into contact with on a daily basis, isolate them in time to avoid infection, wash your bedding frequently, keep the room clean, and keep the air fresh and ventilated. How long is the incubation period of pubic lice? Let’s take a look at it next.

1. How long is the incubation period of pubic lice?

The incubation period of pubic lice is generally about 3 days. After discovering lice, you will usually have been ill for about a week, because there is a process from eggs to lice.

2. Common symptoms

The patient or his/her spouse has a history of unclean sexual contact, or stayed away from home before the onset of the disease. The main sites of disease are the pubic hair area and around the anus, and can also be seen in the armpit hair and chest hair areas. Common subjective symptoms are severe itching, especially at night, which is mainly limited to the pubic area, but can also affect the perianal area, lower abdomen, armpits, eyelashes and calves. The spouse or sexual partner may have similar symptoms. Grayish-white sand-like particles (lice eggs) and slowly-moving pubic lice can be seen attached to the pubic hair. The pubic lice may half burrow into the skin and half remain outside the skin. The skin lesions are scratches and blood scabs, or scattered blue hemorrhagic ecchymoses, which are commonly seen on the inner thigh, lower abdomen and waist. This is because when pubic lice suck blood, their saliva enters the blood and denatures the hemoglobin. After the pubic lice are killed, these blue spots may persist for several months. There are often dotted brown blood stains on the patient's underwear, which are caused by bleeding from the blood-sucking sites of pubic lice. Excessive scratching can lead to secondary folliculitis, impetigo and furunculosis bacterial infection.

3. Daily care

Do not use public towels, do not wear other people's underwear, and do not share bedding with others. Pay attention to hygiene and bathe frequently. Frequently boil towels, bed sheets, and underwear to wash them, and dry them in the sun to sterilize them; disinfect public items such as toilets and bath towels, and use squat toilets as much as possible.