Abstract
BackgroundThe persistent high prevalence of human scabies, especially in low- and middle-income countries prompted us to research the sociodemographic profile of patients suffering from it, and its spreading factors in Cameroon, a resource-poor setting.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional survey from October 2011 to September 2012 in three hospitals located in Yaoundé, Cameroon, and enrolled patients diagnosed with human scabies during dermatologists’ consultations who volunteered to take part in the study.ResultsWe included 255 patients of whom 158 (62 %) were male. Age ranged from 0 to 80 years old with a median of 18 (Inter quartile range: 3–29) years. One to eight persons of our patients’ entourage exhibited pruritus (mean = 2.1 ± 1.8). The number of persons per bed/room varied from 1 to 5 (mean = 2.1 ± 0.8). The first dermatologist’s consultation occurred 4 to 720 days after the onset of symptoms (mean = 77.1 ± 63.7). The post-scabies pruritus (10.2 % of cases) was unrelated to the complications observed before correct treatment (all p values > 0.05), mainly impetiginization (7.1 %) and eczematization (5.9 %).ConclusionHuman scabies remains preponderant in our milieu. Populations should be educated on preventive measures in order to avoid this disease, and clinicians’ knowledges must be strengthened for its proper diagnosis and management.
Highlights
The persistent high prevalence of human scabies, especially in low- and middle-income countries prompted us to research the sociodemographic profile of patients suffering from it, and its spreading factors in Cameroon, a resource-poor setting
Background characteristics On the whole, we recruited 255 patients diagnosed with scabies, among whom 158 (62 %) were males, a sex ratio of 1.63/1
While investigating the influence of impetiginization and eczematization on the occurrence of post-scabies pruritus, we found that patients with eczematization before an adequate treatment would have had an odds of 2.1 to develop a post-scabies pruritus than their counterparts, and an odds of 1.1 in case of impetiginization
Summary
The persistent high prevalence of human scabies, especially in low- and middle-income countries prompted us to research the sociodemographic profile of patients suffering from it, and its spreading factors in Cameroon, a resource-poor setting. An ectoparasitosis transmitted to humans through direct or indirect skin contact, is caused by Sarcoptes scabiei hominis, a mite infecting only human beings [1]. This skin infection has been described to occur as cyclic epidemics [2]. The diagnosis of scabies is based on identification of the mite using dermoscopy and/or skin scrapings/microscopy.
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