National prevalence and risk factors for tungiasis in Kenya

Abstract

Background Tungiasis is a highly neglected tropical skin disease caused by the sand fea, Tunga penetrans, the female of which burrows into the skin, causing pain and itching. The disease occurs throughout South America and sub-Saharan Africa but there are few systematic data on national disease burdens. The tungiasis research community is keen to develop survey methods to fll this gap. Here we used a school-based, thorough examination method to determine the prevalence and risk factors for tungiasis in Kenya.