PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Althomali, Sarah Ali
AU  - Alzubaidi, Lamya Mohammed
AU  - Alkhaldi, Dhelal Musleh
TI  - Severe iron deficiency anaemia associated with heavy lice infestation in a young woman
AID  - 10.1136/bcr-2015-212207
DP  - 2015 Oct 22
TA  - BMJ Case Reports
PG  - bcr2015212207
VI  - 2015
4099  - http://casereports.bmj.com/content/2015/bcr-2015-212207.short
4100  - http://casereports.bmj.com/content/2015/bcr-2015-212207.full
AB  - Lice feed on human blood, and heavy and chronic lice infestation can lead to chronic blood loss with resultant iron deficiency anaemia. Although no definite relationship between lice infestation and iron deficiency anaemia has been described, the concurrent presence of these two conditions has been reported in children and adults, as well as in cattle. We present a case of a young woman with severe iron deficiency anaemia that could not be explained by the known causes of iron deficiency anaemia. However, the patient was found to have heavy and chronic head lice infestation.