sciencetech-blog

comments

This video shows millions of parasites crawling through a child's hair in what experts have described as an extreme case of head lice.

The clip, posted on YouTube, shows a mother struggling to run a fine-toothed nit comb through her daughter's coarse locks, which appear to be filled with white and green creepy crawlies.

As the camera focuses on the comb, countless squirming lice are revealed.

Scroll down for video 

The video shows a mother combing millions of white-green lice from her daughter's hair, which experts identified as head lice

The mother struggles to pull the comb through the coarse hair, which appears to be riddled with insects

Ms Dee Wright, founder of the Hairforce salons which offer a specialised 'Lice Assasins' service in various parts of the UK, identified the infestation as head lice.

It is on par with some of the more extreme cases she has faced in her salons, she said.

She told MailOnline: 'That looks very heavy. We see infestations of that nature.

'We've even seen people with nests. That's where you've got so many lice they're clumping together.

'They're a big ball of lice fighting each other for survival.'

Head lice, also known as pediculosis capitis, are tiny insects that live in human hair, which grow to the size of a sesame seed.

They feed by biting the scalp and feeding on blood.

The females lay eggs close to the root of the hair so they are kept warm by the scalp, and these hatch into more lice which breed and multiply.

Ms Wright said given the lifespan and breeding capability of the female louse, it's not hard to see how such extreme infestations occur.

She said: 'The female only needs to lay once. She lives for 30 days lays up to 10 eggs a day.

'So you can see how if you have 200 eggs hatching at one time, they grow up and mate, and you're off. Things move quite quickly and you can be overrun.'

Often this happens because parents don't check their children's hair regularly, she added.

You would not believe how many lice are in this young girls hair!

When fully grown, head lice are the size of a sesame seed. They feed by biting the scalp and feeding on blood

Ian Burgess, Director of the Medical Entomology Centre, in Cambridge, told MailOnline it was likely the child had been suffering with the lice for several months.

He said: 'There must be 200-300 adults there, however the combing technique is odd, without any break or cleaning of the comb. 

'Strangely, the lice all seem to be stuck to the middle of the comb but I cannot work out why or how.

'This kid would have caught lice in the normal way and then the numbers just grew unchecked because nobody did anything. 

'It would take a few months to get to this level. 

'I've seen similar cases some with thousands of lice in the early days of testing products available in the UK, such as Hedrin, but not so much now.'

He added: 'It should be treated in the normal way but often requires a longer course of treatment because it is easier to miss eggs or even the odd louse when applying treatment.' 

Head lice cause a person's scalp to itch as they are allergic to the lice.

However, not everyone is allergic - and the lack of itchiness can mean the head lice go undetected and continue to multiply. 

People are embarrassed of the condition and so don't seek help, so the infestation grows, she added.

Ms Wright added that the lice could be affecting the child's health.

She said: 'Lice carry bacteria, impetigo. When the feed, they inject their saliva. That contains an anticoagulant. Low levels of this anticoagulant will bring on mild flu-like symptoms.

'When we see children with bad infestations they are quite pale, quite quiet, not concentrating on schoolwork.

Combing with a fine-tooth nit comb through wet hair is the best way of treating head lice, experts advised

'They might be socially ostracised because other children don't want to play with them.'

She added that combing is the best way of treating head lice, as they are resistant to many of the over-the-counter products.

'They use the products in the hope they will work. If they don't do the hard work of combing, getting the eggs out, it won't work.

'Often we see heavy infestations where the parents have been using products on a regular basis.'

She advised that the mother in the video was making mistakes in her attempts to treat the lice.

Parents should use a fine tooth comb on wet hair, and should clean the comb of lice after each brush.

She said: 'The lady in the video was not cleaning her comb, lice will be dropping back into the hair and onto the floor and the seat, she's probably going to catch it.

'The hair wasn't moist enough so she was tearing her daughter's hair out.'

For more information about head lice, visit: http://ift.tt/1yN3pme