title: Prevalence of Pediculus humanus capitis infestation among kindergarten children in Bahía Blanca city, Argentina.
abstract: The human head louse, Pediculus humanus capitis De Geer (Anoplura: Pediculidae), is a worldwide public health concern. This human obligate ectoparasite usually infests school age children. The aim of this work was to investigate the prevalence of head lice in kindergarten children from Bahia Blanca. In addition, the influence of risk factors for pediculosis infestation, such as gender, hair characteristics, and socioeconomic class, was studied in relation to the prevalence of this ectoparasite. From a total of 220 pupils examined (125 girls and 95 boys), 94 showed pediculosis. The overall prevalence of head lice infestation was 42.7 %. Pediculosis was more frequent in girls (53.6 %) than in boys (28.4 %) and in medium, long, and very long hairs. No differences were found between socioeconomic classes. This indicated that head lice are relatively common in kindergarten children from Bahía Blanca.
authors: Laboratorio de Zoología de Invertebrados II, Dpto de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia, Universidad Nacional del Sur, San Juan 670, 8000, Bahía Blanca, Argentina.
authors: María Mercedes
authors: MM
authors: Gutiérrez
authors: Jorge Werdin
authors: JW
authors: González
authors: Natalia
authors: N
authors: Stefanazzi
authors: Gabriela
authors: G
authors: Serralunga
authors: Loreto
authors: L
authors: Yañez
authors: Adriana Alicia
authors: AA
authors: Ferrero
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001118:Argentina / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006197:Hair; D006801:Humans; D010373:Lice Infestations / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology*; D008297:Male; D010374:Pediculus; D015995:Prevalence; D012727:Sex Characteristics