Amir Hossein Zahirnia, Amir Lorzadeh, Hassan Nasirian, Behroz Davari,
Volume 26, Issue 6 (February & March 2024)
Abstract
Introduction: Head lice (Pediculus capitis) infestation is considered an important hygienic problem in developing countries. The aim of study was to compare 1% permethrin shampoo and 4% dimethicone lotion effects for treatment of infected head lice students in primary girl schools in Gotvand County, Khuzestan province.
Methods: The studied population was first- to sixth-grade students in elementary schools. Positive cases with head lice after identification (304 persons) were randomly divided into two treatment groups. Permethrin shampoo and dimethicone lotion were allocated for the first and the second groups, respectively. The drug therapeutic effects were studied after 7, 14 and 21 days after treatment. Data were analyzed by Chi-square test using SPSS software.
Ethical Considerations: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences (Code: IR.UMSHA.REC.1399.778).
Results: In total, 304 students participated in the study. The age of students ranged between 7 and 12 years which 47.7% of them were between 7 and 8 years. Also 60.9 and 39.1% of them were in urban and rural schools, respectively. The drug effectiveness were 46.1, 69.5 and 100, and 77.6, 85.3 and 100% for permethrin and dimethicone in the first, second and third intervals after treatment, respectively. There was a significant difference between the effect of drugs in the first interval (P = 0.00) after treatment but there was not a significant difference between the second (P = 0.084) and the third (P = 0.43) intervals after treatment.
Conclusions: It is recommended the use of dimethicone lotion and permethrin shampoo as the first and second option, respectively in eliminating the head lice infestation in primary girl schools.
