- Video shows a mother combing millions of insects out of her daughter's hair
- It is estimated the child had been suffering with head lice for month
- Experts say infestations can get so bad that 'nests' of lice are formed
- Warn not all lice cause itching, so people may not know they have them
- In cases like this, the hairs can become glued together so can't be brushed
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.
image source : www.dailymail.co.uk
The video shows a mother combings millions of white-green lice from her daughter's hair,which experts identified as head lice
image source : www.dailymail.co.uk
The mother struggles to pull the comb through the coarse hair, which appears to be riddled with insects
video source : YouTube
Dr Alejandra Perotti, a lecturer at the University of Reading's School of Biological Sciences, identified the infestation as head lice - and said she was shocked at the severity of it.
She told MailOnline : They [infestations] are very common in the UK and in eEurope, but not to this level.
I work in forensic sciences and these types of cases are found in cases of neglect of children or the elderly.
'You also see it in cases of homeless people.'
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.
Dr Perotti added that in bad cases such as this one, children often develop a condition called 'plica polonica' where all the hairs get glued together and cannot brushed.
She said :'This child was almost in that condition.'
'To treat it you have to cut off all the hair. At this moment, they should remove all the hair, to remove the nits - combing and shampoo would not work.'
She added the nits are glued with cement to the hair by the mother louse, very close to the skin.
image source: www.dailymail.co.uk
When Fully grown, head lice are the sizeof sesame seed. They feed by biting the scalp and feeding on blod
She continued: 'So you have to cut the hair very short so the female lice don't lay eggs.
'Even if the child gets treatment, they will still get lice for about a year, as the old nits become visible.'
One underused method of treating head lice is to use antibiotics, Dr Peroti said.
She explained: 'All human lice have a bacterium living inside them.
'If you treat the person with antibiotics, it's likely the lice will die, because it kills this bacterium inside of them and they can't survive without it.
'Any simple , mild antibiotic will kill the lice.'
Source :[www.dailymail.co.uk]
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