Article Text
Statistics from Altmetric.com
More than a third of the children in the UK get head lice (pediculosis) in a year,1 and the prevalence of pediculosis increases in crowded conditions and with poorer hygiene.2 Increasing overcrowding of cities will result in an even greater prevalence.
A primary school child needs about 1.5 mg of iron per day3 and iron loss is about 0.6 mg/day.3 A louse can cause blood loss of 1 mg/day, and this could therefore tip this balance in favour of iron deficiency anaemia, especially in a child who is already depleted in iron due to a poor diet.
The effect …
Request Permissions
If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.