Prevalence of pediculosis capitis among Korean children.
Pediculus humanus capitis is an ectoparasite, which causes scalp pruritus particularly among children. A total of 15,373 children including 8,018 boys and 7,355 girls from 26 primary schools and 15 kindergartens attached to the primary schools and a total of 33 children from an orphanage were examined for head lice infestation (HLI). The overall prevalence of HLI in this study was 4.1% including 3.7% of the urban areas and 4.7% of the rural areas. Head lice were found more frequently in girls than in boys with prevalence of 6.5% and 1.9%, respectively. The infestation rate by school grade was 3.2%, 4.7%, 4.2%, 5.0%, 4.9%, 3.8%, and 2.1% for kindergarten, first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grades, respectively. The infestation rate of the children in an orphanage was 66.7%. The prevalence of HLI has decreased especially in the rural areas. However, HLI is a still health problem of kindergarteners and primary schoolchildren in Korea.
Oh
Jeong-Min
JM
Department of Environmental and Tropical Medicine, Medical Immunology Center, IBST, School of Medicine, Konkuk University, Chungju, 380-701, South Korea.
Lee
In Yong
IY
Lee
Won-Ja
WJ
Seo
Min
M
Park
Sol-Ah
SA
Lee
Seung Hyun
SH
Seo
Jang Hoon
JH
Yong
Tai-Soon
TS
Park
Soon-Jung
SJ
Shin
Myeong Heon
MH
Pai
Ki-Soo
KS
Yu
Jae-Ran
JR
Sim
Seobo
S
D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D002656:Child Day Care Centers; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D010373:Lice Infestations / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019372:Orphanages; D010374:Pediculus; D015995:Prevalence; D012536:Scalp Dermatoses / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D012574:Schools