Abstract
Pruritus of scabies is due to a type IV T cell-mediated reaction to the mite's saliva, eggs, excrements and other products released by the mite during its life cycle. Movements of the mite also induce pruritus. According to the literature, scabies pruritus has higher frequency and intensity at night. In this short communication we present the results of a survey on nocturnal pruritus in a group of African migrants with scabies. A questionnaire was given to 36 patients: "Is your pruritus more severe at night?" and "Do you wake up from the sleep because of pruritus?". The answer to the first question was "yes" in 13/18 patients (72.2%) visited from October 2018 to February 2019, and in 6/18 patients (33.3%) visited from May to September 2019. The answer to the second question was "yes" in 11/18 patients (61.1%) of the first group and in 5/18 patients (27.7%) of the second group. It is possible that nocturnal pruritus in scabies is due to the temperature of the skin surface: when it is high, because of the use of pajamas, heavy sheets and blankets (from October to February), pruritus increases; when the skin's temperature is low, as in the summertime, when people usually sleeps without blankets, with light sheets and pajamas or not having a stitch on, pruritus is less frequent and severe. These conclusions must be confirmed by studies based on larger groups of patients.
Highlights
Pruritus of scabies is due to a type IV T cell-mediated reaction to the mite’s saliva, eggs, excrements and other products released by the mite during its life cycle
According to the results of this survey, pruritus worsens during night much more in patients observed in autumn and winter than in patients observed in spring and summer
Almost all epidemiological studies on scabies conclude that the incidence of this infestation is higher in autumn and winter
Summary
Pruritus of scabies is due to a type IV T cell-mediated reaction to the mite’s saliva, eggs, excrements and other products released by the mite during its life cycle. Scabies pruritus is more frequent and severe at night [3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15]. In a French study on children with scabies, nocturnal pruritus was present in 82.5% of patients [11].
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