Prevalence of pediculosis and scabies in preschool nursery children of Afyon, Turkey

Abstract

Scabies and pediculosis are ubiquitous, contagious, and debilitating parasitic dermatoses. The tendency of high prevalence of pediculosis and scabies among school and preschool age children has prompted us to conduct a head louse and scabies prevalence survey among preschool nursery children in our district. A school-based, crosssectional study was performed, with 1,134 children chosen for evaluation. All cases were evaluated by physical examination and a detailed, structured questionnaire. The infestation was found in 14 (1.2%) of 1,134 children; 9 (0.8%) with pediculosis capitis and 5 (0.4%) with scabies. We found that infestations were more frequent in children with mothers whose education levels were low. This indicates the necessity of an improvement in the economic and sociocultural status of the community and the promotion of hygiene concepts and practices in order to improve health of preschool age children.

Risk Factors and Effects of Infestation with Pediculosis Capitis and Scabies among Primary School Students in Cairo , Egypt

“…On the other hand, our figure (10.2%) is higher than the following; 0.8% and 5.1% among preschool nursery (46) and school (47) children in Turkey, 1.8% among school children in Iran, (10) 3.0% among school children in Poland, (15) 3.7% among primary school children in Nigeria (48) , 5.2% in Saudi Arabia (49) , 5.5% in Egypt (50) , 6.5% among primary school children in Ethiopia (6) , and 6.8% among primary school children in Sierra Leone. (51) At the same time, the overall prevalence of scabies among our studied school students was 3.4%.…”

“…The prevalence of infestation with scabies was found to be 1.06% among school children in Ethiopia, (6) 1.8% among school children in Chile, (14) 2.37% among school children in Argentina (53) , 2.6% among students in Egypt 52, and 2.2% among primary school children in Turkey. (7) On one hand, Onlen et al (54) , and Ciftci et al (46) noticed prevalence of scabies was 0.48% and 0.4%, respectively among school and preschool nursery children in Turkey. On the other hand, our figure is less than that of El-Rifaie et al (20) ; they illustrated prevalence of infestation 5.8% among primary school children in Beni Suef Governorate, Egypt.…”

Hairdressing is associated with scalp disease in African schoolchildren

“…Not a single case of head lice infestation was identified. The latter has been reported at a prevalence ranging from 0 to 28% 11,[16][17][18][19] in primary schools in various countries. In African study participants with similar hair to ours, the prevalence was 17AE1% in Kenya, 20 6AE8% in Sierra Leone, 21 and 3AE1% in urban and 0AE1% in rural Nigerian children.…”

Scabies of the child: Epidemiological, clinical, therapeutic and evolutionary aspects in the service of Dermatology of the Regional Hospital of Thiès (Senegal): about 69 cases (2012-2017)

“…Maternal education and occupation had an impact on the occurrence of scabies in children. A study in Turkey found that infestation was more common among children whose mothers were housewives than among educated and employed mothers [14]. In our study, the delay in diagnosis was related to the delay in consultation which was up to 120 days.…”