Korean J Parasitol.  1989 Dec;27(4):271-275. 10.3347/kjp.1989.27.4.271.

The prevalence of head louse infestation among urban and rural children in Korea

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Parasitology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 120-752, Korea.
  • 2Department of Pediatrics, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 120-752, Korea.
  • 3Department of Parasitology, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Chunchon 200-702, Korea.

Abstract

The prevalence of head louse (Pediculus hamanus var. capitis) infestation in preschool and school children in 9 urban and 8 rural areas of Korea, was investigated. Of 11,865 children who were examined for head lice and nits, 2,900(24.4%) were found infested. The over-all infestation rate of rural children, 58.9%, was higher than that of urban children, 14.4%. There also existed significant differences in the infestation rate among various regions of urban as well as rural areas. Females were more infested than males. But there was no differences in infestation rate in either sex of preschool age. The infestation rate increased gradually from the age of 6, reached a plateau between 9-12 years of age and thereafter slowly decreased. The infestation rate of an orphanage children was higher than that of general childhood population. Health education and mass-delousing attempt are urgently required to lower such a high prevalence of head louse infestation in Korea.


MeSH Terms

Adolescence-
Child-
Child,-Preschool
English-Abstract
Korea-epidemiology
Prevalence-
Rural-Population
Urban-Population
*Pediculosis-epidemiology
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