Comparison of two combs in the detection of head lice in school children.
The diagnostic efficacies of two metal pin lice combs having different spacing between their teeth were compared in two cohorts of school children, aged between 7 and 15 years, from different villages of Manisa, Turkey. Head lice infestation was evaluated with comb A (0.18 mm of distance between the teeth) in 95 children in Cavusoglu village, and with comb B (0.15 mm of distance between the teeth) in 146 children in Yesilköy village, compared to visual inspection. Five of 95 (5.3%) children in Cavusoglu village and 5 of 146 (3.4%) children in Yesilköy village were found to harbor live head lice with combing, while none was detected during the visual inspection. The difference between the infestation rates of two cohorts was statistically insignificant (p > 0.05). With visual screening, 15 and 16 children with louse eggs were identified in Cavusoglu and Yesilköy villages, respectively. With combing in these villages, 5 and 8 children, respectively, with louse eggs were identified and 3 and 5 children, respectively, were detected only with combing, not with visual screening. In conclusion, combing is more effective than visual inspection in head lice detection, but there were no significant difference between the two combs either in lice detection or in usage.
Celal Bayar University, School of Arts and Sciences, Department of Biology, Manisa, Turkey. oz1605@hotmail.com
Ozgür
O
Kurt
Tuba
T
Tabak
Hakan
H
Kavur
Hasan
H
Muslu
Emin
E
Limoncu
Cemal
C
Bilaç
I Cüneyt
IC
Balcioğlu
Yaşar
Y
Kaya
Yusuf
Y
Ozbel
Kim
K
Larsen
D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D019719:Diagnostic Equipment / Q000145:classification / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D006197:Hair / Q000469:parasitology*; D006801:Humans; D010373:Lice Infestations / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000469:parasitology; D008297:Male; D010274:Parasitology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010374:Pediculus / Q000254:growth & development*; D012536:Scalp Dermatoses / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000469:parasitology