PREVALENCE AND RISK FACTORS OF SCABIES AMONG SCHOOLCHILDREN: A COMMUNITY-BASED STUDY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.48047/rnqj7331Keywords:
scabies, schoolchildren, prevalence, risk factors, overcrowding, neglected tropical diseaseAbstract
Background: Scabies is a common, contagious ectoparasitic infestation and a neglected skin disease that spreads readily among children in overcrowded, resource-poor settings. School-based data on its prevalence and modifiable risk factors guide control. Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of scabies among schoolchildren and to identify its socio-environmental and behavioural risk factors. Methods: A community-based, cross-sectional study screened 600 schoolchildren across ten school clusters. Scabies was diagnosed clinically from itchy lesions, nocturnal pruritus and typical lesion distribution. Household, hygiene and contact variables were recorded. Associations were tested with the chi-square test and expressed as odds ratios (OR); continuous variables used the independent t test. Results: Among 600 children (mean age 9.5 ± 2.2 years; 53.3% male), scabies prevalence was 16.8% (101/600); secondary bacterial infection occurred in 16.8% of cases. Strong risk factors were a family member with scabies in the past four weeks (OR 4.78), contact with an itchy person (OR 3.69), bed-sharing (OR 2.91), overcrowding (OR 2.86) and clothes-sharing (OR 2.28); daily water access was protective (OR 0.36) (all p < 0.001). Prevalence rose across worsening hygiene categories (7.0%, 22.0%, 26.4%). Among cases, itchy lesions (97.0%), nocturnal pruritus (89.1%) and typical distribution (94.1%) were near-universal. Conclusion: Scabies affected about one in six schoolchildren and was strongly associated with household contact, overcrowding, sharing of beds and clothes and poor hygiene, with daily water access protective. These modifiable determinants support contact-based, hygiene- and water-focused school and community control measures
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