Topic summary
Phthiriasis
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Pediculosis pubis.
Etymology
Infestation with pubic lice is also called phthiriasis or phthiriasis pubis, while infestation of eyelashes with pubic lice is called phthiriasis palpebrarum or pediculosis ciliarum. Linnaeus was first to describe and name the pubic louse in 1758, when he called it Pediculus pubis. The disease is spelled with phth, but the scientific name of the louse Pthirus pubis is spelled with pth (an etymologically incorrect spelling that was nonetheless officially adopted in 1958).