Mass treatment of head louse infestation with Sumithrin powder in primary schools in Korea

Original Article


Korean J Parasitol. 1992 Dec;30(4):349-354. English. Published online Mar 20, 1994. http://dx.doi.org/10.3347/kjp.1992.30.4.349
Copyright © 1992 by The Korean Society for Parasitology


Mass treatment of head louse infestation with Sumithrin powder in primary schools in Korea
H I Ree,T S Yong,H J Shin,C O Shin,I Y Lee,S A Seo,J H Seo,J K Chang,D H Lee and K I Im
Institute of Tropical Medicine, Yonsei University, Seoul 120-750, Korea.


Abstract
A mass treatment of head louse infestation with Sumithrin® powder (0.4% phenothrin) in primary school children was implemented during the period of September 1991-May 1992. The infestation rate of total 2,515 children was 38.6% in average (21.2% in boys and 57.2% in girls). The reduction rate of head louse infestation was 93.4% with a single treatment and 94.8% with double consecutive treatments with about 10 days interval, which indicated that a single treatment would be recommended for the mass treatment in the community. Long term follow-up after Sumithrin powder application for head louse control in a primary school showed that the infestation rate dropped from 33.1% before treatment to 5.4% by seven months after treatment, giving a 83.4% reduction rate.

Tables


	Table 1 Head louse infestation rates of four primary school children in September-October 1991


	Table 2 Control effect of a single treatment of Sumithrin power against head lice in primary schools


	Table 3 Control effect of double treatment of Sumithrin power against head lice in primary schools


	Table 4 Long-term follow-up of head louse in festation rate in Paju Primary School after 7 months of Sumithrin powder treatment^*

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