Prevalence of scabies and pediculosis in Ghezel Hesar prison, Iran
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66344/jpad.v16i4.879Keywords:
Pediculosis, prisoners, scabiesAbstract
Background Pediculosis and scabies are infectious diseases that can spread in overcrowded places like prison, and pose a lot of sanitary difficulties in public places.
Objectives To determine the prevalence of these diseases in Ghezel Hesar prison in Iran (male prison).
Patients and methods It was a descriptive study on 1404 prisoners in Ghezel Hesar prison in 2004. These prisoners were screened for scabies and pediculosis by two dermatologists.
Results Of 1404 prisoners, 31 (2.2%) were infested by scabies and 12 (0.9%) with body pediculosis. There were no cases of scalp and pubis pediculosis. All cases were male (male prison). All prisoners with scabies and 83% of the prisoners with pediculosis had intense pruritus. There was a significant relation between the duration of imprisonment and these diseases. Pediculosis and scabies were more prevalent amongst new prisoners (p<0.001). Similarly, scabies was more prevalent in overcrowded cells. In pediculosis group there were more addicted prisoners (p<0.01).
Conclusion We recommend that examining the new prisoners for scabies and pediculosis by a dermatologist or a trained doctor could help reduce the spread of these diseases.
References
Maunder JW. The appreciation of lice. Great Britain, Proc R Inst, 1983.
Burns T, Breathnach S, Cox N. Rook’s Textbook of Dermatology, 7th edn. London: Blackwell Science; 2004. p. 14-41.
Maunder JW. Pediculosis corporis; an updating of attitudes. Environ Health 1983;**: 130-2.
Leppard B, Naburi AE. The use of ivermectin in controlling an outbreak of scabies in a prison. Br J Dermatol 2000; 143: 520-3.
Singh S, Prasad R, Mohanty A. High prevalence of sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections amongst the inmates of a district jail in Northern India. Int J STD AIDS 1999; 10: 475-8.
Demoures B, Nkodo-Nkodo E, Mbam-Mbam L. Primary health care in a prison environment, the Cameroon experience. Sante 1998; 8: 212-6.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2017 Mohammad Rahmati Roodsari, Farhad Malekzad, Mohammad Ebrahimzadeh Ardakani, Behrooz Abbasi Alai, Mohammed Ghoraishian
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Submission declaration
Authors retain the copyright to their work and grant the 'Journal of Pakistan Association of Dermatologists (JPAD)' the right of first publication under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. This license allows others to share, adapt, and reuse the work for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as appropriate credit is given to the original authors and the journal.
By submitting a manuscript, authors confirm that the work has not been published previously (except as an abstract, lecture, or academic thesis), is not under review elsewhere, and has been approved by all authors and relevant authorities. Once accepted, the article will be openly accessible under the CC BY 4.0 license, ensuring wide dissemination and reuse with proper attribution.
