Prevalence of jigger flea (Tunga Penetrans) infestation amongst age groups, male and female persons in Jinja District, Eastern Uganda

Abstract

Jigger flea infestations are endemic in several rural communities in Uganda. The Eastern part of the country reports outbreaks of jigger infestations. This case study was carried out to identify the most vulnerable sex and age groups to jigger infestation so that appropriate control measures can be recommended. Members of the affected communities in Jinja district were requested to report households that had current cases of jigger infestation. The name, sex and age of the household heads and infected persons were recorded. Details of the persons were then removed from the lists for ethical reasons. A total of 429 persons were reported to be infested with jiggers in nine parishes of five sub-counties in the district. There was a significant difference in jigger infestation in different age groups (p=8E-152, χ2 = 712.79) and between males and females (p=2.88E-8, χ2=30.78). The most infested age group (n, %) was below 15years (269, 62.7%), followed by the elderly people, above 55 years (48, 11.2%) and the least infested age group was 16-25 years (8, 1.9%). Males in each age category were at least twice more infested with jiggers than females. The study recommends that more attention be focused on children, elderly persons and males in jigger control than on females and persons in other age groups.