title: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Clinical Microbiology, Afyon Kocatepe University, School of Medicine, Turkey. ihciftci@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Ihsan Hakki
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Ciftci
authors.forename: Semsettin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Karaca
authors.forename: Omer
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Dogru
authors.forename: Zafer
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cetinkaya
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kulac
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003710:Demography; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010373:Lice Infestations / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D010374:Pediculus; D010808:Physical Examination / Q000379:methods; D015995:Prevalence; D012520:Sarcoptes scabiei; D012532:Scabies / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology