Pediculosis prevalence and associated risk factors in a nursery school, Bogotá, Colombia
Keywords:
Pediculus, lice Infestations/epidemiology, prevalence, risk factors, child, preschool, social conditions
Abstract
Introduction.Pediculosis is one of the most important chronic infestations in schoolchildren worldwide. Infestations show a high prevalence among the poorest children in developing countries, and it is associated with substandard hygienic practices.Objective.The prevalence was estimated and seasonality described of a Pediculus infestation of seven months duration in a nursery school. Associations were explored among the standards of hygienic practices and hair characteristics.
Materials and methods.One hundred and seventy-eight nursery school children between the ages of 3 months to 5 years, from the nursery school located at National University of Colombia, Bogotá, were participants in the study. The children were examined for presence of Pediculus humanus infestation each month for seven months. The lengths and thicknesses of hair were measured at the first examination. A survey requesting information on socioeconomic and hygienic practices was provided to the caretakers of the children. Prevalence rates with 95% confidence intervals were estimated for each explored association, and also to describe the differences of prevalences between age groups in each period.
Results.The highest prevalence was found in the children between the ages of 4 and 5 years, at the beginning of the school year. A positive association was indicated between Pediculus infestation and hair longer than 11.5 cm [prevalence rate (PR)=2.0; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.82-4.8], washing the hair less than three times a week (PR=1.58; 95%CI: 0.58-4.7), as well as sharing cleaning implements (PR=1.31; 95%CI: 38-4.46) and living with more than five people at home (PR=2.04; 95%CI: 0.8-5.06). Due to the limited size of the sample, none of the associations found were statistically significant.
Conclusion.Pediculus infestation has a high prevalence in children of the nursery school studied. This infestation is associated with substandard hygienic practices, living with more than five people at home and the length of hair.
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References
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8. Slonka GF, Fleissner ML, Berlin J, Puleo J, Harrod EK, Schultz MG. An epidemic of Pediculosis capitis. J Parasitol. 1977;63:377-83.
9. Rasmussen JE. Pediculosis and the pediatrician. Pediatr Dermatol. 1984;2:74-9.
10. Satyamoorthy TS, Sachdeva NL, Kabra SC, Ganguly SS. A prevalence study of pediculus humanus capitis infestation among children in a slum area of Pune. Indian Journal of Community Medicine. 1987;12:209-17.
11. Fang P, Chung W, Kuo C, Hsu H, Chow C. Present status of head louse ( Pediculus capitis) infestation among school children in Yunlin County, Taiwan. Khaosiung J Med Sci. 1991;7:151-9.
12. Calderón-Arguedas O, Solano M, Sánchez C. El problema de la pediculosis capitis en escolares del área metropolitana de San José, Costa Rica. Parasitol Latinoam. 2003;58:177-80.
13. Castro DC, Abrahamovich AH, Cicchino AC, Rigoni A, Raffaeli C, De Barrio A. Prevalencia y estacionalidad de la Pediculosis capitis en la población infanto-juvenil de la región sanitaria, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Rev Saúde Pública. 1994;28:295-9.
14. Boyle P. Pilot study of the prevalence of head lice infestation in a population of Saudi Arabian Children. Fam Pract. 1987;4:138-42.
15. Ogunrinade AF, Oyejide CO. Pediculosis capitis among rural and urban school children in Nigeria. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 1984;78:590-2.
16. Sagua H, Rivera AM, Zamora M, Neira I, Araya J, Maluenda R. Epidemiological study of Pediculosis capitis and scabies in school children from Antofagasta, Chile, 1995. Bol Chil Parasitol. 1997;52:33-6.
17. Speare R, Buettner PG. Hard data needed on head lice transmission. Int J Dermatol. 2000;39:877-8.
2. Piquero-Casals V, Pérez M, Quintero I, Ramírez B, Piquero-Martín J. Epidemiología de la Pediculosis capi-tis en escolares del Distrito sanitario No. 3 en Caracas, Venezuela. Dermatol Venez. 2004;42:19-22.
3. Araújo A, Ferreira LF, Guidon N, Maues Da Serra Freire N, Reinhard KJ, Dittmar K. Ten thousand years of head lice infection. Parasitol Today. 2000;16:269.
4. Downs AM, Stafford K, Coles GC. Head lice: Prevalence in school children and insecticide resistance. Parasitol Today. 1999;15:1-4.
5. Schenone H, Saavedra T, Rojas A. Infestación por Pediculus humanus capitis. Un prolongado problema de salud pública. Bol Chile Parasitol. 1986;41:16-20.
6. Borges R, Mendes J. Epidemiological aspects of head lice in children attending day care centers urban and rural schools in Uberlándia, central Brazil. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz. 2002;97:189-92.
7. Catalá S, Junco L, Vaporaky R. Pediculus capitis infestation according to sex and social factors in Argentina. Rev Saude Publica. 2005;39:438-43.
8. Slonka GF, Fleissner ML, Berlin J, Puleo J, Harrod EK, Schultz MG. An epidemic of Pediculosis capitis. J Parasitol. 1977;63:377-83.
9. Rasmussen JE. Pediculosis and the pediatrician. Pediatr Dermatol. 1984;2:74-9.
10. Satyamoorthy TS, Sachdeva NL, Kabra SC, Ganguly SS. A prevalence study of pediculus humanus capitis infestation among children in a slum area of Pune. Indian Journal of Community Medicine. 1987;12:209-17.
11. Fang P, Chung W, Kuo C, Hsu H, Chow C. Present status of head louse ( Pediculus capitis) infestation among school children in Yunlin County, Taiwan. Khaosiung J Med Sci. 1991;7:151-9.
12. Calderón-Arguedas O, Solano M, Sánchez C. El problema de la pediculosis capitis en escolares del área metropolitana de San José, Costa Rica. Parasitol Latinoam. 2003;58:177-80.
13. Castro DC, Abrahamovich AH, Cicchino AC, Rigoni A, Raffaeli C, De Barrio A. Prevalencia y estacionalidad de la Pediculosis capitis en la población infanto-juvenil de la región sanitaria, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Rev Saúde Pública. 1994;28:295-9.
14. Boyle P. Pilot study of the prevalence of head lice infestation in a population of Saudi Arabian Children. Fam Pract. 1987;4:138-42.
15. Ogunrinade AF, Oyejide CO. Pediculosis capitis among rural and urban school children in Nigeria. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 1984;78:590-2.
16. Sagua H, Rivera AM, Zamora M, Neira I, Araya J, Maluenda R. Epidemiological study of Pediculosis capitis and scabies in school children from Antofagasta, Chile, 1995. Bol Chil Parasitol. 1997;52:33-6.
17. Speare R, Buettner PG. Hard data needed on head lice transmission. Int J Dermatol. 2000;39:877-8.
How to Cite
1.
Moncada LI, Rios SM, Fernández JA, Rivas F, Sáenz ML. Pediculosis prevalence and associated risk factors in a nursery school, Bogotá, Colombia. biomedica [Internet]. 2008 Jun. 1 [cited 2024 May 18];28(2):245-51. Available from: https://revistabiomedica.org/index.php/biomedica/article/view/95
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