The prevalence of lice infesting students of primary, preparatory and secondary schools in Cairo, Egypt.

Human lice (head and body) are among the arthropod-ectoparasites of worldwide distribution. Examining students in primary, preparatory and secondary schools recorded prevalence rates of 21.86%, 30.38% and 12.94% respectively. The overall rate of the lice infestation in the three schools was 384 out of 1772 or 21.67%. The prevalence rate of lice infestation among males and females were 17.02% & 37.8% (primary school), 27.8% & 33.1% (preparatory school), and 12.0% & 13.9% (secondary school). These totaled 17.7% (males) and 30.26% (females). The overall ratio of head to body lice was 18.2:1. Consequently, lice mainly the head louse, are still a public health problem particularly among female students in the primary and preparatory schools. In the secondary school prevalence rate of the lice infestation was low. So human lice is still a community health problem.

Evaluation of four pediculicides against the head lice Pediculus h. capitis.

Four pediculicides were tested against head lice in-vitro. The LT50 for Licid ranged between 10.75 (at conc. 50%) to 25.08 (at conc. 1%). All lice died with conc. 100% within 5 minutes. With Malathion, the LT50 ranged between 4.23 to 9.3 at conc. 50% to 1% respectively. All lice died with conc. 57% within 3 minutes. With Benzanil, the LT50 ranged between 20.85 to 44.34 at conc. 50% to 1% respectively. All lice died at conc. 2.5% within 10 minutes. With Para plus, the LT50 ranged between 18.46 to 29.5 at conc. 100% to 50% respectively. All lice died with conc. 100% within 30 minutes. So, the least time needed to kill all lice was given with Malathion (3 minutes). The least dose of pediculicide needed to kill all lice was those of Benzanil (1% = 0.025) and Malathion (1% = 0.57). The whole results were discussed regarding the advantages and disadvantages of these pediculicides.

Evaluation of the in-vitro pediculicidal action of four known insecticides and three medicinal plant extracts.

Human lice is an increasing community health problem worldwide. This is particularly true among school children who spend most of their daytime in crowded areas. Four commercially known insecticides and three medicinal plant extracts were studied to evaluate their pediculicidal activities in-vitro. The best result with insecticides was achieved with malathion (Lt5o 10.396 and slope function 1.183). The best result with medicinal plant extracts was achieved with neem oil (A. indica) (Lt5o 85.27 and slope function 1.480). Although, neem oil extract was less active than malathion, yet it is more safe for human usage.

Two contagious ectoparasites in an orphanage children in Nasr City, Cairo.

Lice and scabies are the main ectoparasites transmitted by contagious, particularly among children living in crowded areas. Examination of an orphanage children (both sex, 2-6 years old), showed infestation with head louse (64.1%), body louse (53.8%) and scabies (26.9%). The results were discussed on the light of the work done before.

Morphological studies on Phlebotomus papatasi (Scopoli) in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia.

In general, leishmaniasis is more or less a problem not only in Saudi Arabia but also in all countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region. In Saudi Arabia, the most important form is zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCI.). It's main vector, Phlebotomus papatasi has been reported and incriminated by many authors. In this paper, the diagnostic morphology of P. papatasi as compared to other species found in Riyadh as well as the immature stages was given. This is considered as a base line data for studying the ecology and biology of P. papatasi. No doubt the best control strategy is based on complete understanding of the insect vector of ZCL.

The seasonal and daily activities of Phlebotomus papatasi in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The seasonal abundance of P. papatasi was determined by monthly collection. It was found that the greatest number of sandflies occurred most commonly during the summer season with a peak in June and another one in September. Male to female ratio was 1:1.25 in Riyadh and 1:1.48 in Al Kharj. During the winter season no insect was found and then the population density started to appear again from March. The daily indoor activity of P. papatasi was in May, in the periphery of Riyadh city, showed largest amount of Phlebotomus from 10-11 pm. with sex ratio (male to female) 1:3.5 and from 4-5 am. with a sex ratio (male to female) 1:3. In the central area of Riyadh city, the highest number was from 9-11 pm. with a sex ratio (male to female) 1:3.5 also from 4-5 am. with sex ratio 1: 3. The daily outdoor activity was in June, in the peripheral area in Al Kharj city, showed the highest number from 7-9 pm. with a sex ratio (male to female) 1: 2.3 and from 5-7 am. with a sex ratio 1:1.3, while in the central area of Al Kharj, the highest number was from 7-9 pm. with a sex ratio 1: 1.1 and from 5-7 am. with a sex ratio 1: 0.9. Both the indoor and outdoor collections showed that the number of females P. papatasi were higher than number of the males, and the sandflies were more abundant in the periphery than in the central of both Riyadh and Al Kharj cities.

Rodents and their ectoparasites in Sharkia Governorate, Egypt.

Rodents serve as reservoir hosts for many parasitic and bacterial diseases which are spread to man and animals by their habits, their droppings or by their arthropod ectoparasites. Commensal (semi-domestic) rodents were collected by different methods from Sharkia Governorate over a period of one year, 1989. The trapped rodents in descending order of prevalence were Rattus norvegicus, Rattus rattus, Mus musculus and Gerbillus gerbillus. The ectoparasites were collected and identified as five species of fleas, one species of lice and one species of mites. The role of these rodents as animal reservoirs and their ectoparasites as vectors of zoonotic diseases was discussed.