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Tests and diagnosis
By Mayo Clinic staffYou or your doctor can usually confirm a pubic lice infestation through a visual examination of your pubic area. The presence of moving lice confirms infestation.
Lice eggs (nits) also may indicate an infestation. However, nits can cling to hairs and be present, although no longer alive, even after successful treatment.
- Goldstein AO, et al. Pediculosis. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed April 9, 2010.
- Pubic "crab" lice: Fact sheet. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/lice/pubic/factsheet.html. Accessed April 9, 2010.
- Diaz JH. Crab lice (Pediculosis pubis). In: Mandell GL, et al. Mandell, Douglas and Bennett's Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases. 7th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier; 2009. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/book.do?method=display&type=bookPage&decorator=header&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-443-06839-3..00293-9--s0015&uniq=194092956&isbn=978-0-443-06839-3&sid=980699335#lpState=open&lpTab=contentsTab&content=4-u1.0-B978-0-443-06839-3..00293-9--s0035%3Bfrom%3Dtoc%3Btype%3DbookPage%3Bisbn%3D978-0-443-06839-3. Accessed April 9, 2010.
- Habif TP. Pediculosis: Clinical manifestations. In: Clinical Dermatology. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2009. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/book.do?method=display&type=bookPage&decorator=header&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-7234-3541-9..00024-9--s0235&displayedEid=4-u1.0-B978-0-7234-3541-9..00024-9--s0240&uniq=194092956&isbn=978-0-7234-3541-9&sid=980720410. Accessed April 9, 2010.
- Pubic "crab" lice: Treatment. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://cdc.gov/lice/pubic/treatment.html. Accessed April 9, 2010.
- Pubic "crab" lice: Prevention and control. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://cdc.gov/lice/pubic/prevent.html. Accessed April 9, 2010.
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