Damp symptoms

Pubic lice is a disease caused by poor hygiene. After the symptoms appear, the lower body will feel unbearable itching. Pubic lice are what we call parasites. In daily life, you should pay more attention to changing and washing your underwear frequently, especially women. Because of menstruation, the lower body should be cleaned in time. It is best to clean it before and after sexual intercourse, otherwise it will not only produce parasites but also cause diseases such as vaginitis.

Causes

This disease is an infectious disease. The patient or his/her spouse may have a history of unclean sexual contact or may have stayed away from home before the onset of the disease. The pathogen of pubic lice is an external parasite - pubic lice. Pubic lice are small, turtle-like creatures that use their large claws to grasp hair shafts. Pubic lice feed on human blood. Before feeding, they are grayish white, and after feeding, they turn rusty. The host's body temperature is suitable for the growth of pubic lice. Under natural conditions, the average lifespan of female lice is 35 days. Both the larvae and adults of pubic lice feed on human blood, 4 to 5 times a day. Pubic lice generally do not leave the pubic hair area. They only leave their original host and infect new hosts during sexual intercourse. Pubic lice, like other lice diseases, can also spread infectious diseases such as relapsing fever and typhus.

The patient or his/her spouse has a history of unclean sexual contact, or became ill while staying 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 also half burrow into the skin and half appear outside the skin. The skin lesions are scratches and blood scabs, or scattered blue hemorrhagic ecchymoses, which are common 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.

examine

There are three characteristics of this disease: itching, rash, and blue bruises. Usually no laboratory examination is required. If necessary, adult pubic lice or eggs can be found under a microscope or magnifying glass and identified.

diagnosis

The diagnosis can be made based on a history of sexual contact or other infection, itching in the pubic area, and skin lesions mainly consisting of scratches, blood crusts, secondary impetigo, folliculitis, or gray-green or light-blue spots. The diagnosis can be confirmed by finding pubic lice or lice eggs in the pubic skin or pubic hair area.

Need to be differentiated from the following diseases:

1. Scabies infection

Scabies is a highly contagious parasite that is invisible to the naked eye. Any objects touched by the patient may be infected. Scabies likes to be active at night, and it causes obvious itching at night. Its characteristic rash is located between the fingers, scrotum, etc., with characteristic tunnels, papules and papulovesicles.

2. Trichomonas infection

Trichomonas is a very tiny protozoan with flagella that cannot be seen with the naked eye and must be observed under a microscope. It is usually transmitted through sexual contact. It occurs only in the urogenital tract, mainly the vagina, urethra and prostate. Most men are asymptomatic after being infected with Trichomonas vaginalis, but most women have symptoms, such as foul-smelling yellow-green vaginal discharge and vulvar irritation.

3. Vulvar skin pruritus

There are no primary lesions, no blue spots, and no pubic lice or lice eggs found. Pubic lice can often be complicated by other sexually transmitted diseases, such as gonorrhea and syphilis.

4. Others

It needs to be differentiated from a variety of diseases, such as body lice, scabies, impetigo, seborrheic dermatitis, vulvar pruritus and contact dermatitis.

complication

1. Folliculitis

Bacterial infection of hair follicles caused by scratching. Itching is the most prominent symptom. A subjective feeling that causes an immediate desire to scratch. It is the most common symptom of skin diseases.

2. Secondary infection of impetigo

Localized epidermal cavity swellings containing turbid pus are produced. It originates from the skin and evolves from papules and blisters. The pustules vary in size and depth, and may be surrounded by inflammatory redness. Shallow pustules dry up and become pus scabs, which heal without leaving scars. Deeper pustules may form ulcers, which may leave scars after healing.

3. Skin rash

Gray-green or light-green macules can be seen on the skin of patients with pubic lice.

treat

1. Treatment principles

Early diagnosis and timely treatment; treatment plans must be individualized; regular treatment and follow-up; tracing the source of infection, examination and treatment; sexual partners should be examined and treated at the same time.

2. Treatment options

The ideal treatment should be able to effectively kill both adult pubic lice and their eggs. Before treatment, the patient should shave his pubic hair, and underwear, bed sheets, and quilts should be soaked in boiling water to kill insects.

(1) General treatment: Shave pubic hair. Boil and disinfect underwear, panties, menstrual belts and bathing utensils to keep them clean and hygienic. Patients should avoid sexual intercourse to avoid infecting others. Because pubic hair is where pubic lice live, without pubic hair lice will lose the place they need to live. In order to completely treat the disease, it is generally required to shave off the pubic hair and burn it to completely eliminate the environment in which pubic lice survive. In addition, the claws of pubic lice are very powerful, and they often grasp the hair shaft tightly, making it difficult to separate, so shaving pubic hair is a necessary treatment.

(2) Drug treatment includes lindane lotion, shampoo or cream; malathion lotion; permethrin; sulfur ointment; 25% benzyl benzoate emulsion, etc., all of which have the effect of killing adult pubic lice and eggs. If the itching is severe, antihistamines can be used to relieve itching. If secondary bacterial infection occurs, antibiotics should be used.

3. Cure criteria

The patient should be followed up 4 to 7 days after the first treatment. The patient can be considered cured if the symptoms disappear and no lice or eggs are found during physical examination. Sometimes itching may last for a period of time, which is mainly caused by allergic reactions and can be treated symptomatically, but it will not affect the recovery. The prognosis is good.