Relationship of sociodemographic variables and head-lice infestation among elementary school children in bet shemesh

Fifty-seven children infested with live lice and eggs and 57 noninfested controls, ages 6-11, attending an elementary school in Bet Shemesh, a medium-sized community near Jerusalem, were compared. Children of fathers with fewer years of schooling, children whose fathers were born in Israel, and children of younger mothers were all at higher risk of infestation. However, head-lice infestation was not significantly associated with gender of the child, father’s and mother’s occupations, mother’s years of schooling, size of the family, or number of siblings under age 14.