The life that lives on man.

Television programme on the nature of human skin and the organisms that live on the skin naturally as well as larger parasites. Professor Mary Marples describes the organisms which inhabit different areas of the skin and the mite that lives in the roots of the eyelashes. Focuses on dust mites that feed on shed skin. Examines the mite that causes scabies and the 1940s experiments led by Kenneth Mellanby to ascertain how scabies spreads between humans. A focus on a flea circus owned by Professor Tomlin and the role of the flea in spreading plague. Dr Miriam Rothschild describes the behaviour of the flea first described by her father Charles Rothschild and Dr Kim Parker measures the thrust of a flea's jump. Explanation of the body louse, whose droppings spread typhus, and the use of DDT to control typhus. Professor Busvine outlines the numbers of death from typhus. Examination of the head louse and Dr Donaldson's 1970 investigation into rates of head lice in Teesside school children. John Maunder reveals the potential danger that head lice can carry typhus under laboratory conditions. Looks at the role of the surgeon's skin in causing infections during surgery. Examination of the natural antibiotic effect of bacteria that live on human skin.