Prevalence of pediculosis among primary school children in Tunisia

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dc.coverageCairo
dc.creatorDhekra Farjallah
dc.creatorSameh Belgacem
dc.creatorLatifa Remadi
dc.creatorRaja Chaabane-Banaoues
dc.creatorFaouzia Trimech
dc.creatorSihem Ben Fredj
dc.creatorHamouda Babba
dc.creatorNajoua Haouas
dc.date2025-01-05T12:29:20Z
dc.date2025-01-05T12:29:20Z
dc.date2024-08-15
dc.date.accessioned2026-08-03T06:08:35Z
dc.descriptionBackground:Pediculus humanus capitis (head lice) infestation is a global health concern, yet no study has examined its occurrence among primary school children in Tunisia.Aim:To assess the prevalence of Pediculus capitis and its epidemiological characteristics among primary school children living in rural and urban areas of Monastir, Tunisia.Methods:We used 2-step stratified cluster sampling to randomly select 2396 children from 14 primary schools in Monastir during the 2022/2023 academic year. Head lice infestation was assessed through visual inspection of the hair, and data on the socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle and pediculosis history of the children were collected. We used SPSS version 20 to analyse the data and used descriptive statistics to rate the frequencies. Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine the association between pediculosis and the predictor variables.Results:Overall infestation rate was 17.5% (95% CI 16.0–19.1%); infestation was 5 times higher among girls (29.1%) than boys (6.3%). Schoolchildren living in crowded family households, those in the third and fourth grades and whose parents had low education level were more exposed to infestation. Combing frequency, comb sharing and history of previous infestation had significant impact (P < 0.05) on the prevalence of pediculosis. Multivariate logistic regression showed gender and treatment outcome as the main potentiating factors.Conclusion:These findings highlight the need for pediculosis prevention and integrated health promotion programmes among primary school children and their parents, teachers and nurses in Monastir and other parts of Tunisia.
dc.description561
dc.description569
dc.formatapplication/pdf
dc.identifier1020-3397
dc.identifier1687-1634 (online)
dc.identifierhttps://iris.who.int/handle/10665/379993
dc.identifierhttps://doi.org/10.26719/2024.30.8.561
dc.identifier.urihttps://repo.dare.co.zw/handle/123456789/205555
dc.languageEnglish
dc.languageen
dc.publisherWorld Health Organization. Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean
dc.relationEastern Mediterranean Health Journal
dc.relation8
dc.relation30
dc.rightsCC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO
dc.rightshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/igo
dc.rightsWorld Health Organization
dc.subjectCommunicable Diseases
dc.subjectLice Infestations
dc.subjectPediculus
dc.subjectPrevalence
dc.subjectRisk Factors
dc.subjectRural Population
dc.subjectSocioeconomic Factors
dc.subjectTunisia
dc.subjectepidemiology
dc.titlePrevalence of pediculosis among primary school children in Tunisia
dc.typeJournal articles

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