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. 2020 Dec;69(4):463-469.
doi: 10.33073/pjm-2020-050. Epub 2020 Dec 27.

The Incidence of Scabies and Head Lice and Their Associated Risk Factors among Displaced People in Cham Mishko Camp, Zakho City, Duhok Province, Iraq

Mohammad I Alberfkani  1 , Wijdan M S Mero  2
Affiliations

The Incidence of Scabies and Head Lice and Their Associated Risk Factors among Displaced People in Cham Mishko Camp, Zakho City, Duhok Province, Iraq

Mohammad I Alberfkani et al. Pol J Microbiol. 2020 Dec.

Abstract

This study was conducted to estimate the incidence and the effects of associated risk factors of scabies and head lice on displaced people in Cham Mishko camp, Zakho city, Duhok Province, Iraq. The study included 1300 internally displaced people (IDPs) who visited the dermatology clinic and health care center in Cham Mishko camp from January 2018 to December 2019. Participants' bio-information was collected on special questionnaire form after receiving permission from the camp's health authorities and verbal consent from the participants. Monthly weather data were collected from Duhok Directorate of Meteorology and Seismology. The total rate of ectoparasites was 81.2% (45% for scabies and 36.2% for head lice). Ages from 1-10, 21-30, and 31-40 years showed the highest rates with scabies (48.1%, 46.7% and 46.1%, respectively), while the highest rates of head pediculosis were at ages from 1-10 and 11-20 years (40% and 36.6%, respectively). Scabies rate was slightly higher in males than females (46.6% vs. 43.4%), while the rate of head pediculosis was significantly higher in females than males (58.2% vs. 13.9%). Families with more than ten people showed the highest rates of scabies and head pediculosis (49.5% and 74.5%). Scabies was more common in cold months than in summer while head pediculosis was more common in hot months. The number of scabies and head pediculosis cases increased by 123 and 85 cases, respectively, in 2019. It is inferred that the effects of scabies and head pediculosis in IDPs will be considerable, with a higher carriage rate than other studies in Iraq.

Keywords: Iraq; climate; displacement; infestation; pediculosis; scabies.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest The authors do not report any financial or personal connections with other persons or organizations, which might negatively affect the contents of this publication and/or claim authorship rights to this publication.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Number of scabies and head lice cases related to gender in Cham Mishko camp during 2018 and 2019.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Seasonal variation of scabies and pediculosis among IDP in Cham Mishko camp in 2018 and 2019 in relation to weather conditions.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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