title: Scabies infestation: the effect of intervention by public health education.
abstract: The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of scabies in an infested village; to educate the residents on self-treatment and prevention by the use of 5% monosulfiram soap; to evaluate the short term effectiveness of this intervention by determining, 2 weeks later, the compliance to self-treatment and prevention; and to determine the prevalence rate on the second visit. In 59 households (96.7% of the village) containing 313 persons, an educational session was held and a leaflet distributed on the use and availability of the soap. Thirteen persons (4.2%) from eight households (13.6%) had scabies. After 2 weeks, 7 persons (2.2%) (2 persisting and 5 new cases) from 5 households (8.5%) were infested. Thus a cure rate of 85% was obtained though the prevalence rate showed no statistically significant difference. Among the under 15 year olds, the numbers infected decreased from 10 to 3 while among the over 15 years olds, the numbers infected increased from 3 to 4, neither reading significance at the 5% level.
authors: Streptococcal Disease Unit, Trinidad and Tobago Public Health Laboratory, Port of Spain.
authors: H F
authors: HF
authors: Reid
authors: C D
authors: CD
authors: Thorne
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004221:Disulfiram / Q000627:therapeutic use / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance; D015995:Prevalence; D012532:Scabies / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012915:Soaps; D014300:Trinidad and Tobago / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D012915:Soaps; C009822:monosulfiram; D004221:Disulfiram