Biology Department, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota 58202.
J Parasitol. 2023 Dec 1;109(6):559-564. doi: 10.1645/23-64.
This study examined the population structure of head and body lice infesting a random sample of people in Pokhara, Nepal during 2003, 2004, and 2005. A total of 106 participants (6 to 72 yr old, median = 12) volunteered to have lice collected from their heads and clothing. Most participants (70%) harbored only head lice, some (15%) had only body lice, and some (15%) had concurrent infestations of head and body lice (dual infestations). A total of 1,472 lice was collected. Significantly more nymphs were collected than adult lice. Louse populations were generally small (geometric mean = 8.8 lice per person) but a few participants harbored larger louse populations (maximum = 65 lice). People with dual infestations harbored significantly more lice than people with single infestations; however, there was no difference in the infestation intensities between people infested with head lice only vs. those infested with body lice only. Male participants harbored significantly more lice than did females. There were no significant differences in infestation intensity due to participant age or their socioeconomic level. The sex ratio of adult lice was increasingly female biased with increasing adult louse density. Infection of lice with Bartonella quintana was low (ca. 1.5%). Pediculosis is a common problem in urban Nepal.
本研究于 2003、2004 和 2005 年期间调查了尼泊尔博克拉随机抽样人群中寄生在头部和身体上的虱子的种群结构。共有 106 名参与者（6 至 72 岁，中位数=12 岁）自愿接受从头部和衣物上采集虱子。大多数参与者（70%）仅携带头虱，一些参与者（15%）仅携带体虱，还有一些参与者（15%）同时携带头虱和体虱（双重感染）。共采集了 1472 只虱子。收集的若虫明显多于成虫。虱子种群总体较小（几何平均值为每人 8.8 只虱子），但少数参与者携带较大的虱子种群（最多为 65 只虱子）。同时感染头虱和体虱的人携带的虱子明显多于只感染单一虱子的人；然而，只感染头虱的人与只感染体虱的人之间的感染强度没有差异。男性参与者携带的虱子明显多于女性。参与者的年龄或社会经济水平对感染强度没有显著影响。随着成虱密度的增加，成虱的性别比例越来越偏向雌性。感染巴尔通体 quintana 的虱子比例较低（约 1.5%）。在尼泊尔城市，头虱感染很常见。
