Diagnosis, treatment, and control of scabies: can we do better?

Abstract

In 2017, the Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases of WHO recommended that scabies be added to the neglected tropical disease portfolio and called for action to improve control efforts. Scabies affects around 200 million people at any one time, 1 Karimkhani C Colombara DV Drucker AM et al. The global burden of scabies: a cross-sectional analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015. Lancet Infect Dis. 2017; 17: 1247-1254 Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (130) Google Scholar causes an intensely itchy rash, and leads to bacterial infection and autoimmune disease. 2 Engelman D Kiang K Chosidow O et al. Toward the global control of human scabies: introducing the International Alliance for the Control of Scabies. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2013; 7: e2167 Crossref PubMed Scopus (123) Google Scholar Although the greatest burden is in disadvantaged populations in resource-limited and tropical settings, scabies also causes a substantial health-care burden via institutional outbreaks in high-income and temperate settings. Scabies outbreaks in ten care homes for elderly people: a prospective study of clinical features, epidemiology, and treatment outcomesClinical presentation of scabies in elderly residents of care homes differs from classic descriptions familiar to clinicians. This difference probably contributes to delayed recognition and suboptimal management in this vulnerable group. Dermatoscopy and microscopy were of little value. Health-care workers should be aware of the different presentation of scabies in elderly people, and should do thorough examinations, particularly in people with dementia. Full-Text PDF Open Access