Toloza Ariel, Vassena Claudia, Gallardo Anabella, González-Audino Paola, Picollo María Inés
Centro de Investigaciones de Plagas e Insecticidas (CITEFA/CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Parasitol Res. 2009 Jun;104(6):1295-8. doi: 10.1007/s00436-008-1324-6. Epub 2009 Jan 16.
The infestation with the human obligate ectoparasite Pediculus humanus capitis De Geer is a common public health problem affecting mainly schoolchildren worldwide. The aim of the present study was to investigate the infestation levels of head lice in elementary schools from Buenos Aires with resistant levels to permethrin >100. A total of 1,856 children aged 3-13 years old from eight selected elementary schools were examined for head lice. Pediculosis was observed in all the studied schools. The overall infestation rate was 29.7%. Girls were statistically significant more infested than boys, with infestation rate values of 36.1% and 26.7%, respectively (P < 0.0001). Only 42 of the infested girls (12%) and 23 of the infested boys (11.4%) had >10 lice on their hair. The proportions of infested children-both girls and boys-in each age group were not found to differ significantly from one another. The infestation rate among schools varied from 19.12% to 42.74%. This indicated that pediculosis is relatively common in elementary schools from Buenos Aires, and those levels are of epidemic importance. The differences of pediculosis among the studied schools could be explained by the different control strategies applied by parents or advisors to eradicate head lice.
人体专性体外寄生虫头虱（人头虱）的感染是一个常见的公共卫生问题，主要影响全球的学童。本研究的目的是调查布宜诺斯艾利斯小学中对氯菊酯耐药水平>100的头虱感染情况。对来自八所选定小学的1856名3至13岁儿童进行了头虱检查。在所有研究的学校中均观察到头虱病。总体感染率为29.7%。女孩的感染率在统计学上显著高于男孩，分别为36.1%和26.7%（P<0.0001）。在感染的女孩中，只有42名（12%）头发上有超过10只头虱，感染的男孩中有23名（11.4%）头发上有超过10只头虱。各年龄组中感染的儿童（包括女孩和男孩）比例之间未发现有显著差异。学校之间的感染率从19.12%到42.74%不等。这表明头虱病在布宜诺斯艾利斯的小学中相对常见，且这些感染水平具有流行病学意义。研究学校之间头虱病的差异可以用家长或指导者为根除头虱而采用的不同控制策略来解释。
