Factors Affecting Pediculosis capitis Transmission among Primary School Children
Salim Ali Alarifi
Dermatology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Benghazi University, Benghazi, Libya.
Ghait Alsdae
Dermatology Department, Sirte University, Sirte, Libya.
Gamal A. Duweb *
Dermatology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Benghazi University, Benghazi, Libya.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Introduction: Human head lice infest people worldwide and are most prevalent in children. Outbreaks of head lice more commonly affect children 3 to 12 years old, with girls being affected more commonly than boys. The aim is to study the factors affecting transmission of the disease among the school children in villages in Benghazi - Libya.
Patients and Methods: In a cross-sectional study in western region of Benghazi, 556 students in three schools from Alhlys, Alatry and Abofakra regions were enrolled. The ages of children ranged from 6 to 13 years. Data collected include socio-demographic characteristics of the students, sex, age, school and hair were examined individually for head lice infestation in a separate room. Descriptive analysis and Chi-square test was used to determine the statistical significance of p-value ≤ 0.05.
Results: The data were collected on 556 students from the 3 villages: 39.7% from Al-Helys, 28.8% from Al-Tarya and 31.5% from Abofakra regions. The age of children ranged from 6 to13 years. Female children were more than 50%. The mean of family size was 7±2 persons, number of bedroom in houses ranged from 1-5 rooms.. Sharing of personal equipment such as hair comb and linen was reported in 33.5% of families. Pediculosis capitis manifestation was reported in 26.3% of the participants. The prevalence of pediculosis capitis was 19.5% in Al-Helys, 35.6% in Al-Tarya and 26.3% in Bo-Fakra; this difference was statistically significant (p<0.05) . The prevalence of pediculosis capitis in males was 10.2%, while in females was 41.8% , this difference was highly statistically significant (p =0.0001) The highest prevalence of pediculosis capitis was in age of 11 years old (42.9%), followed by age of 10 years old (36.6%). There were no reported cases at the age of 6 and 13 years. There was no effect of parent occupation or education level on pediculosis infestation transmission.
Conclusion: The present study revealed that, Pediculosis capitis was prevalent in school children, more in females. Furthermore pediculosis was higher in certain villages than others.
Keywords: Pediculosis capitis, school children, prevalence, transmission