Prevalence of Pediculus humunus capitis, Pediculus humanus corporis, and Pthirus pubis in Al-Kut, Iraq.

Lice infestations or pediculosis occurs throughout the world and is caused by Pediculus humunus capitis (head louse), Pediculus humanus corporis (body louse), and Pthirus pubis (crab louse). This study was conducted within March-October 2020 and aimed to investigate the presence of human lice among 1,632 individuals from 225 families living at different economic and social levels in AL-Kut city, Iraq, and its suburbs (urban, rural, and slum areas). Data collection was performed on volunteer families by completing survey forms and visual examinations. The families were divided by the number of members into 10-15, 7-9, 4-6, and 3-2 persons, for which, the infestation rates were estimated at 24.2%, 21.4%, 12.5%, and 8.6%, respectively. Moreover, in this study, urban, rural, and slum areas were infected at 11.5%, 33.6%, and 21.6 %, respectively. The infestation appeared in all ages, and the higher and lowest rates were obtained for the age ranges of 3-17 and 18-40 years old (79.04% and 20.9%), respectively. Based on the results, the rates of infestation were 21.8% and 13.3% in females and males, respectively. The findings of this study showed that the infection rate of Pediculus humanus corporis among the subjects aged 4-24 years old was 11.0% and that of Pthirus pubis was 3.0% in the cases aging 14-32 years old. Due to the high infestation with ectoparasites in these areas and large families, it is highly important to create conditions for health and provide information to control and prevent infection.