Letters in Health and Biological SciencesLetters in Health and Biological SciencesLetters in Health and Biological SciencesLetters in Health and Biological Sciences2475-6245Ommega Online PublishersNew Jersey, USA183310.15436/2475-6245.18.1833Research ArticleSurvey the Prevalence of Pediculosis Capitis and its Associated Risk Factors among Girls’ Schools Students in Garmsar City, Semnan Province (Iran)Survey the Prevalence of Pediculosis Capitis and its Associated Risk Factors among Girls’ Schools Students in Garmsar City, Semnan Province (Iran)SafiyeGhobakhloo1Department of Environmental Health Semnan University of Medical Sciences Semnan Iran1Department of Epidemiology Iran University of Medical Sciences Tehran IranEditor* E-mail: sa_ghobakhloo@yahoo.com
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
20182606201831LHBS-18-RA-183317032018210620182018Creative Commons Attribution LicenseThis is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. nbsp Objective The prevalence of head lice Pediculus humanus capitis is one of the prevalent infections in all ages particularly among students and has a worldwide distribution Aim of this study was to survey the prevalence of head lice infestation and external factors affecting the distribution of P capitis among girls rsquo schools in Garmsar city and in the east of Semnan province Iran from December 2015 to March 2016 Methods This was a descriptive and analytic study A total of 800 students aged 7 - 16 years old from 12 selected girls rsquo school were examined for head lice Data collection was done by standard questionnaire and physical examination of the hairs A questionnaire concerning student rsquo s personal hygienic practices and socio-demographic characteristics was filled out Analysis was done by Chi-square tests using SPSS software version 18 Results The overall prevalence of head lice infestation in this study was 32 including 33 1 of the Primary schools and 31 3 of the guidance schools p lt 0 001 A statistical significant association was observed between Pediculosis capitis and mothers rsquo job and her education level fathers rsquo job presence of health teacher in schools bathing intervals combing intervals access to health services and school grade Conclusion The study indicated that the prevalence of Pediculosis was a major concern but among the schools studied the prevalence of head lice was slightly higher in elementary schools that are related to some factors including person characteristic and poor education To find strategies for this issue regarding its cultural economic and social aspects cooperation of different organs like ministries of education and health and also students and their parents is clearly required 10