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Pediculose capitis: prevalência em escolares da Rede Municipal Pública de Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil

1989; Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde; Volume: 84; Issue: suppl 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1590/s0074-02761989000800057

1678-8060

Pedro Marcos Linardi, Mário de María, José Ramiro Botelho, Horácio Capistrano Cunha, João Batista Ferreira,

Insects and Parasite Interactions

During 1985, 50,356 children and adolecents from 105 public schools of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State were questioned about or examined for head lice (Pediculus capitis). The mean prevalence of pediculosis, obtainde from the questionnaires and sometimes confirmed by head inspections, was 7.7% or else 10.2% when adjusted to 38,311 respondents. Current and past infestations combined - within a period of three months before survey - revealed a total prevalence of 57.4%. Significant differences were observed among socioeconomic levels, and grades of school age. The more prevalent categories among the factors studied were: sex - femal: 9.2% (P<0.001); ethnic group - white: 10.0% (P<0.001); hair length - long: 9.5% (P<0.05); year age-group - 1-5 years: 19.2% (P<0.001), with a peak in the 5th year (21.3%).