Pubic Lice Are on the Loose; College Students Easy Target

Pubic lice, commonly known as crabs, will burrow into several hundred thousand college students this year, oblivious to ordinary shampoos and soaps.

The lice are usually transmitted "between sexual partners during intimate physical contact," Dr. Leslie Norins, former chief of the U.S. Public Health Service's Venereal Disease Research Laboratory said yesterday.

Infested bedding and undergarments can also transmit the parasite, Norins said.

Incidents of public lice infection have been increasing on college campuses over the last ten year, Norins said.

But there has been no noticeable increase increase in lice infection cases at Harvard this year, Dr.Sholem Postel, associate director of University Health Services (UHS) said yesterday.

Blood Sucker

A typical crab louse attaches itself to the base of a pubic hair, burrows into the skin, feeds on the host's blood, and lays visible whitish eggs, Dr. Nicholas Fiumara, head of the communicable disease department of the Massachusetts department of pubic health said yesterday.

Public lice "itch like hell." Fiumara said.

Scratching will not remedy the problem and can cause a second degree infection Flumara continued. The burrowing and feeding of the crab causes the constant itch, he added.

Homemade remedies usually do not work, and can worsen the infection, Norins said. Lice eggs, cemented to public hair shafts, do not wash off with ordinary soap and water, he added.

An infected person can receive treatment at any university or public or pubic health clinic, Fiumara said. Clinics and private doctors usually use a salve, which is rubbed into the infected area and showered off 24 hours later. Nonprescription remedies are also available over the counter.

Increased sexual activity has probably caused the recent rise in public lice infection incidents, Norins sniggered. In addition, public lice are now in the more rapid growth portion of a twenty year cycle, Fiumara said.