Here ’s an eyebrow - raising ken . This month , doctors in China reported on a rare case of phthiriasis palpebrarum , or an plague of pubic dirt ball on the eyelashes , complete with open images of the itchy offender . Though it ’s not clear how the louse ended up on the young patient , doctor were able to treat her infestation with no issue .
The case story waspublishedJuly 3 in the New England Journal of Medicine by doctors Xue Feng and Hong Qi from the Peking University Third Hospital in Beijing , China . According to the report , a 8 - class - old young lady visited the infirmary after live three weeks of fidgety eyelids . Upon examination , the palpebra were reddened . And when the doctors wait nigher , they spot the unmortgaged bearing of adult lice and nits on the miss ’s eyelashes . The lice were then confirm to be Phthirus pubis , also known as pubic lice or crabs .
Pubic lice , as the name suggest , are parasitic insects that populate in the main in the pubic hair’s-breadth around our crotch and fertilize off our line of descent . They ’re a distinct mintage from the worm that can live on our scalp or body hair ( body and oral sex lice are very closely related to to each other but are different in important way ) . But on rare occasions , pubic lice can migrate to and survive on the more coarse hairs of the physical structure that resemble the pubic region , including the eyelash .
Microscope images of the patient’s lice.Image: Xue Feng and Hong Qi/© The New England Journal of Medicine (2021)
Obviously , finding pubic lice on a new girl would raise concern about her safety . But the physician said they did n’t find lice on any other part of the girl ’s body , nor on her parents . Ultimately , they reported not finding any grounds that the young lady had been sexually mistreat . While these lice do normally spread through sexual physical contact , the doctor note that they can also be transmitted through simply touching shared surfaces or aim that carry them , particularly things like towels , bedding , and clothing .
The girl ’s lice and nits were physically removed and the clothes and bedding of her household member were washed in hot water system and retain separate from hers , while sharing in general was limited for a brusque prison term . Two weeks later , she devolve for a follow - up with no itchy palpebra and no sign of further infestation .
Human lice of all variety remain a common nuisance , and , contrary to democratic impression , regularly chivy all turning point of society , plentiful and poor likewise . But even in affluent nation , those withfewer resourcesare less able to promptly seek treatment for infestations , allowing the lice to spread to others . It’sestimatedthat somewhere between 6 million and 12 million infestations of head lice happen every year in the U.S. among kids historic period 3 to 11 .
Images of the patient’s lice captured via slit-lamp examination (A) and via a microscope (B and C)Image: Xue Feng and Hong Qi/© The New England Journal of Medicine (2021)
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