Changes in incidence and age distribution of scabies: A retrospective cohort study in a tertiary hospital

Abstract

Aim: Scabies is a pruritic skin disease caused by an ectoparasite named sarcoptes scabies var hominis. It sometimes makes endemics depending on lifestyles of communities. In this study, we point out that patients with scabies have increased in recent years. Methods: A retrospective review was carried out in the patients with scabies diagnosis between 2013January and 2018 July at the dermatology outpatient clinic of Karabuk Research and Training Hospital. The age and gender of the patients, and the season of diagnosis were recorded from the hospital database. Results: In this study, we found that the incidence of scabies increased from 0.4 % to 1% in the last 5 years in the dermatology outpatient clinic of our hospital (r=0,886 p=0.000). The mean age of scabies patients decreased from 49.7 to 31.4 within 5 years (r=-0,753 p=0,006). The female patients were much more than male patients (56% vs 44%), and their mean age was older than males (44 vs 37) (p=0,000). Conclusion: Scabies cases are increasing in number and the mean age of the patients is decreasing gradually at recent years. ÖzAmaç:Uyuz, sarkoptes scabies var hominis adlı bir ektoparazitin neden olduğu kaşıntılı bir deri hastalığıdır.Değişen hayat tarzlarına bağlı olarak endemiler yapmaktadır.Bu çalışmada uyuz tanısı alan hastaların son yıllarda arttığına dikkat çektik. Yöntemler: Karabük Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi Dermatoloji polikliniğinde 2013 Ocak -2018 Temmuz arasında, uyuz tanısı alan hastalar retrospektif olarak incelendi.Hastane kayıtları kullanılarak yapılan çalışmada,uyuz tanılı hastaların yaş ve cinsiyetleri alındı.Uyuz tanısının konulduğu mevsim not edildi. Bulgular:Çalışmamızda, son beş yıl içinde , hastanemiz dermatoloji polikliniğinde uyuz görülme sıklığının % 0.4 den %1'e kadar yükseldiğini saptadık (r=0,886 p=0,000). Uyuz tanısı alan hastaların yaş ortalamasının da, bu 5 yıl içinde 49.7'den 31.4 'e düştüğünü gözledik (r=-0,753 p=0,006) . Uyuz tanılı kadın hastalar daha fazlaydı (%56 vs %44) ve uyuzlu kadın hastaların yaş ortalaması erkek hastaların yaş ortalamasına göre daha büyüktü (44 'e 37) (p=0,000). Sonuç: Son yıllarda,uyuz tanısı konulan olgular artıyor ve uyuz görülme yaşı da düşüyor.

Increase in scabies incidence: a retrospective cohort study

“…Likewise, in the study of Anderson and Strowd [1], the mean age of the cases with scabies was detected as 27 years. In addition, we also found that the mean age of patients with scabies has decreased significantly over the years, similar to the study of Aktaş et al [7]. Although scabies occurs in both genders, while some researches indicate that it is dominant among males, others show that it is more common among females [8].…”

“…In the retrospective study covering the period between 2006-2017 conducted by Çetinkaya et al [6] in Kayseri the number of cases per population was at the highest level in 2014. In the retrospective cohort study covering the period 2013-2017 which was conducted by Aktaş et al [7] in Karabük, the scabies was determined to increase progressively. In our study, it was determined that the number of cases with scabies between 2010-2013 was below 0.26% and it increased by 3.5 times in 2014 compared to the previous year and exceeded 0.9%, and this progress continued in the following years.…”

Impact of Pandemic in the Frequency of Scabies: Possible Scabies Outbreak Scenario Aftermath COVID-19

“…In studies reported from our country in recent years, it has been reported that the incidence of scabies has got an increasing trend (9,10). Besides, we found that the increase in the frequency of scabies encountered in outpatient clinics in the 4 th quarter of the last year gained momentum and increased from 0.42% to 1.54% from 2017 to 2019 (5).…”

A Neglected Disease: Scabies a Retrospective Study On Children

“…It was observed that most of the patients in this study were treated with sulfur ointment (60.5%). It is noteworthy that the patients who received treatment with sulfur ointments to younger ages from 2013 to 2018 (11). No difference was observed in the distribution of scabies prevalence according to different ages from 2014 to 2019 in a recent multicentre study conducted in distinct regions of Turkey (12).…”

“…In the literature, there were both female and male dominance observed in various studies investigating scabies (10)(11)(12). The population and geographical differences in the studies may explain the contradictory results.…”