Epidemiologic aspects of scabies among primary school children in Bashagard County, south of Iran

Background: Scabies is a widespread contagious disease, which occurs mostly in the warm and humid parts of the world.Objectives: This study was conducted to determine epidemiological factors associated with scabies prevalence among primary school children in Bashagard County, south of Iran.Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 480 students of primary schools in Bashagard County were selected by cluster random sampling. Suspected cases were selected for sampling of borrows by scraping test methods. Demographic, socioeconomic, and behavioral data were collected using a structured questionnaire by interviewers. Data were analyzed using SPSS software and Chi-squared (χ2) test.Results: In this study prevalence of scabies was found to be 3.4% in primary school students in Bashagard County. The most infestation rate (6.9%) was found in the students of the fifth grade. Statistically significant relationships were found between scabies and factors such as parents educational levels, fathers job, family size, school grade, student age, presence of healthcare instructors, bathing facilities, and use of shared bedroom and articles (p<0.01), while there was no significant relationship between students gender, mothers job, residence place, access to drinking water, and use of soap and infestation. Regarding the site of infestation most of the infestations located in wrist (37%), thighs (30.5%), interdigital space, and other parts of the body (19.5%).Conclusion: Considering the significant relationship between the prevalence of the scabies and parents educational levels, presence of healthcare givers, and use of shared articles in the studied population, conducting the educational intervention can play an important role in promoting the knowledge and performance of students regarding prevention and treatment of scabies.

Keywords:

Scabies , Prevalence , Epidemiologic aspects , Primary school students , Bashagard