It was hard to get rid of trench lice because of unsanitary, damp conditions, the difficulty of killing eggs with basic methods, the continuous reintroduction in crowded trenches, and the lack of effective, available pesticides; eggs stuck in seams survived heat and washing, hatching new infestations, while soldiers were constantly rotated and shared infested clothes, leading to a perpetual cycle of infestation.
These tiny insects infested clothing, irritated skin and caused 'trench fever' and typhus. Men in the trenches killed lice by 'chatting' - crushing them between finger nails - or burning them out with cigarette ends and candles.
The problem is that most of these products are insecticides that kill the lice on contact but may not kill the eggs. Also, if treatments aren't completed as directed on product labels, some head lice won't be killed.
Rats and lice tormented the troops by day and night. Oversized rats, bloated by the food and waste of stationary armies, helped spread disease and were a constant irritant. In 1918, doctors also identified lice as the cause of trench fever, which plagued the troops with headaches, fevers, and muscle pain.
The 1800s to Today
Treatments varied from a concoction from vinegar and lard to leaving the responsibility to the women to nit pick themselves and their families and friends. The first record of head lice in the U.S. is from early 1800's in Wisconsin.
Lice infestation was common for soldiers who spent long periods in the front line in close proximity to each other, often without adequate washing and laundry facilities. As well as being highly irritating there was also the danger of contracting louse-borne typhus fever.
"The only safe and effective way to treat head lice is by using an over-the-counter or prescription medication," says Ellie Brownstein, MD, a pediatrician at University of Utah's Greenwood Health Center. Home remedies like mayonnaise may suffocate the bugs but do not kill the eggs, Brownstein says.
WW2 soldiers carried condoms primarily for disease prevention (STDs like syphilis and gonorrhea) and for practical combat uses, such as keeping sand and mud out of their rifle barrels, protecting small items, or even as makeshift waterproof bags, although the weapon-protection use is sometimes exaggerated in popular culture. The military distributed them widely (often in "prophylactic kits") to maintain troop strength, recognizing the significant manpower lost to venereal diseases in past conflicts.
Soldiers had a name for lice, “cooties,” and external treatments were called “cootie oils.” As with typhus on the Eastern Front - a rickettsial disease that killed soldiers - control of lice was the key to managing the epidemic of Trench Fever.
World War I claimed an estimated 16 million lives. The influenza epidemic that swept the world in 1918 killed an estimated 50 million people. One fifth of the world's population was attacked by this deadly virus. Within months, it had killed more people than any other illness in recorded history.
Human pubic lice acquired from gorillas gives evolutionary clues. New research indicating early humans acquired public lice from gorillas about 3.3 million years ago sheds new light on when humans started to lose their body hair as they migrated out of the trees and onto the savannah.
Adult lice have remarkable survival abilities in water. They can close their breathing holes (called spiracles) and cling tightly to hair when submerged. We've seen this firsthand when families come to our clinics after trying salt water treatments, the lice are still very much alive and active.
Unsurprisingly, little is written about homosexuality in the armed forces during the Great War; it was illegal and those caught were subject to corporal punishment, so there would have been little reason to shout publicly about liaisons.
In his book Trench: A History of Trench Warfare on the Western Front (2010), Stephen Bull concluded that in the western front, artillery was the biggest killer, responsible for “two-thirds of all deaths and injuries.” Of this total, perhaps a third resulted in death, two-thirds in injuries.
From the 1990s onwards, trench fever has mostly been seen in small, isolated outbreaks. These modern outbreaks often mimic other diseases that affect the blood, heart, and blood vessels.
Early modern remedies were based on humoral theory or methods of suffocation, poisoning, and containment. All six lice treatments in The Vermin Killer (1680) included ingredients such as hog lard, butter, smashed apple, olive oil, or wax; these would have suffocated or immobilised the lice.
These latrines were trench toilets. They were usually pits dug into the ground between 1.2 metres and 1.5 metres deep. Two people who were called sanitary personnel had the job of keeping the latrines in good condition for each company.
Lice are not cool to have, therefore you give them cute names like cooties, seam squirrels, crotch crickets, personal livestock and mobile dandruff (military slang). Even the eggs have cute names, "Nits" That name sounds like a snack cracker.
'Bad' girls have always known how to look after themselves. Barrier methods were always very popular. A halved, emptied lemon skin placed over the cervix worked well, for example, as did sponges soaked in natural spermicides such as vinegar.
The Bible literally has zero to say on condoms.
World War II pushes more women into the workforce, and the need for reliable, limitless period protection becomes a driving force in the popularity of tampons.
Lice dislike the smell of many things, but the thing they hate most is peppermint. So, before you send your kid off to hang out with other kids, spray them with a peppermint spray. It's the same concept as using a mosquito or bug spray in the summer months, except the scent is less offensive.
While Vaseline is one of the more effective home remedies, it's not foolproof. One study found petroleum jelly stops all but 6% of nits from hatching and can kill a lot of lice – but it won't stop the surviving lice from laying more eggs.
The CDC does not have scientific evidence that suffocating head lice with mayonnaise, olive oil, margarine, butter, or similar substances is an effective form of treatment.