Prevalence of head lice (Pediculus humanus capitis) infestation among schools workers in the Eastern Region, Saudi Arabia

Hanadi B Baghdadi; Eltigani O M Omer; Dina M Metwally; Rewaida Abdel-Gaber

doi:10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.06.013

Prevalence of head lice (Pediculus humanus capitis) infestation among schools workers in the Eastern Region, Saudi Arabia

Saudi J Biol Sci. 2021 Oct;28(10):5662-5666. doi: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.06.013. Epub 2021 Jun 10.

Authors

Hanadi B Baghdadi^{1

2}, Eltigani O M Omer³, Dina M Metwally⁴, Rewaida Abdel-Gaber^{5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Biology Department, College of Science, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
² Basic and Applied Scientific Research Center, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Public Health, College of Public Health, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt.
⁵ Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.

Abstract

In a cross-sectional survey in February-May 2019, the prevalence of Pediculosis capitis with demographic data and the behavioral practices were investigated among 750 participants in the Eastern region of Saudi Arabia. Female participation was highly remarked with a percentage of 94.08% compared to that of male one about 5.91%. A deficiency of knowledge about lice infestation was noted especially among illiterate participants raised from their socio-economic levels (p-value = 0.001). Lice infestation reached higher rates in children aged less than 20 years with itching of the hair scalp. The obtained results revealed that 59.33% of the respondents believed that frequency of personal hygiene and washing of hair were the best methods for preventing the lice infestation. However, the treatment of lice infestation using anti-lice agents (p-value = 0.020) was preferred by 14.26% of participants. Although knowledge about the preventive tools for lice infestation (p-value 0.089) was not significantly associated with the experience of infestation but knowledge about the appropriate treatment to kill lice (p-value 0.020) and the wrong practices in the treatment of a head lice infestation were (p-value 0.005) significantly associated with the experience of infestation. Health programs and campaigns preventions are highly advised to increase the awareness of Pediculosis capitis with an effective strategic plan to control, manage, and prevent this disease.

Keywords: Head lice; Pediculosis capitis; Saudi Arabia; School workers.