Lice are tiny, wingless insects that feed on human blood
Doctors in China were left stunned after they discovered head lice nesting in a young boy's eyelashes. According to New York Post, the 3-year-old boy had been complaining of intense itching and “abnormal” secretions around his eyes, as well as swelling and redness for more than a week.
His parents then took him to an ophthalmologist where it was discovered that a large number of head lice and its eggs were stuck to the boy's eyelashes.
The ''extremely rare'' case has been published in the September edition of the American Journal of Ophthalmology Case Reports.
''On ocular examination, a large number of nits and brown secretions tightly adhered to the root of the upper eyelashes of the right eye, and translucent parasites crept slowly along the eyelashes, without impairment of vision. A few of the parasites and nits were further viewed with a microscope and were identified as head lice,'' the report stated.
Notably, the toddler, from Zhengzhou, loved playing in the sand and often rubbed his eyes with dirty hands.
Thankfully, the boy's vision was not affected by the parasites. Once the insects and their eggs were removed, his symptoms “were completely resolved immediately,” and he was given ointment and eye drops to apply.
''After removing the affected eyelashes, the head lice, and their nits, we disinfected the eyelid margin with compound iodine disinfection cotton swabs. After the lice, nits, and pathological secretions were removed, his ocular symptoms were completely resolved immediately. Following this treatment, the boy was also advised to apply 0.5% erythromycin ophthalmic ointment on the eyelid margin to suffocate any nit or louse that may remain and to combine this with 0.3% tobramycin eye drops that are effective for nits and lice for 1–2 weeks until he returned for a follow-up examination,'' the report explained.
According to Mayo Clinic, lice are tiny, wingless insects that feed on human blood. Lice spread from person to person through close contact and by sharing belongings. Unless treated properly, lice can become a recurring problem.