Body lice

Symptoms and causes

Body lice are tiny insects without wings. Body lice live in clothing and bedding. Several times a day, they travel to the skin to feed on blood. They often bite in areas where clothing seams touch the skin.

Body lice are most common in crowded living places that aren't clean, such as refugee camps and shelters for people who don't have housing. The lice can spread through contact with the clothes or bedding of someone who has lice. Body lice can spread diseases.

Clothing and bedding that have body lice in them need to be washed in hot, soapy water and machine dried using the hot cycle.

Body lice bites can cause intense itching. You may see small areas of blood and crust on your skin at the site of the bite marks.

Most people who have body lice don't need to see a healthcare professional. If you're not sure that what you see are lice, call your healthcare professional.

Seek medical advice about body lice treatment if:

• Products you get without a prescription don't kill the lice.
• You have infected skin sores from scratching.

You can get body lice if you have close contact with a person who has body lice or with clothing or bedding that have body lice in them.

Dogs, cats and other pets do not spread body lice.

People who are at higher risk of body lice tend to live in crowded places that can't be easily kept clean. Or in places with shared beds, such as shelters for people who don't have housing.

Body lice most often don't cause complications. But having body lice sometimes leads to complications such as:

• Infections. Body lice can irritate your skin. So can scratching the itchy bites. These can lead to skin infections.
• Skin changes. If you have body lice for a long time, your skin may change. It can thicken or change color. This is more likely to happen where clothing seams touch your body.
• Other conditions. Body lice can carry and spread bacteria that cause conditions such as typhus, relapsing fever or trench fever.

To prevent body lice, don't have close contact or share bedding or clothing with anyone who has lice. If you can, bathe often and change into clean clothes at least once a week to help prevent the spread of body lice.