Scabies – More than just scabs

 In this age of social media and global communication, numerous crippling diseases have gained worldwide infamousness and with it, the attention of the public. Nowadays these crippling diseases have immensely better prognoses from the attention and resources that have been put into combating them. However, there exists a group of diseases that are physiologically and socially crippling yet receive little to no attention from the global community. These diseases are called Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) and cover a wide range of diseases such as numerous parasitic infections and bacterial infections.

 One such NTD that is particularly endemic in Australia is scabies. Scabies is a skin infection disorder caused by mites burrowing into the top layer of the skin. This causes severe itching to the patient and several burrow tracks in the form of blisters or bumps on the skin. Although scabies by itself may not pose a severe health risk, the itchiness caused by the mites are often so severe that patients scratch through their skin, opening the pathway for a whole host of other infectious diseases. The most common diseases contracted in this manner are impetigo, cellulitis, and abscess; all are which have high mortality rates in rural areas where scabies are most commonly rampant.

 The main issue with scabies, however, is that the disease is incredibly infectious. In Australia, some rural communities have estimated rates of scabies of up to 50%, meaning that one of two people have scabies. Add that to the fact that scabies can often be hard to diagnose and we can begin to understand the difficulty in trying to control this endemic disease.

 Fortunately, scabies is incredibly treatable if discovered early, and only requires some topical ointments in early stages. The burden of this disease can be lowered substantially if preventive measures are taken to stop the disease in its early stages, and this can be achieved relatively easily by providing endemic areas with the necessary medication for this disease. Scabies has also been starting to receive some of the attention it needs, as group called the International Alliance for the Control of Scabies (IACS) has recently been formed and is dedicated to the eradication of scabies worldwide.

 Like most NTDs, scabies is a very treatable, though crippling, disease that is burdened only by its limited awareness. We hope that we can raise some awareness of these neglected diseases through this blog and help lower the burden of these diseases.

Resources

Engelman D, Kiang K, Chosidow O, McCarthy J, Fuller C, Lammie P, et al. Toward the Global Control of Human Scabies: Introducing the International Alliance for the Control of Scabies. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 2013;7(8):e2167. Available: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3738445/

Brook I. Microbiology of secondary bacterial infection in scabies lesions. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 1995;33(8):2139-40. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC228350/