Scabies, Boring Skin and Psyche
| Autor: | Xavier Jordan, Peter Itin, Andreas J. Bircher, Andreas F. Widmer, Helmut Beltraminelli, R. De Lorenzo, R. Herold, Heinz Schuhmacher, Christoph Strub, M. Buehlmann |
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| Rok vydání: | 2009 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | Dermatology. 219:1-2 |
| ISSN: | 1421-9832 1018-8665 |
| Popis: | Recently, we faced an outbreak of scabies in 2 institutions [3] : a university hospital with 750 beds and a rehabilitation facility with 92 beds. Overall 2 patients, 8 hospital co-workers (HCW) and 9 acquaintances were infested by the scabies mite ( fig. 2 ). Tracing all the contacts (hospital, family, other occupations) of the 19 infested persons, a total of 1,661 individuals were involved, of whom 1,640 underwent preventive treatment. Scabies, the parasitic infestation of the skin surface caused by the mite Sarcoptes scabiei var. hominis ( fig. 1 ) has been referred to for thousands of years (Aristotele, the Old Testament), and it continues to bother human beings. The last human scabies mite will likely to die together with the last human being. At the first glance, scabies is a harmless and common disease transmitted by close skin contact in children, and is considered as a sexually transmitted disease among the adult population. However, scabies very frequently triggers bacterial skin infections in the developing world. The infectious agent is ubiquitous; it is endemic in some poor tropical and subtropical areas as well as in selected communities, and it is sporadic in industrialized countries. Risk factors are war, poverty, overcrowding, poor nutritional status, dementia and poor hygiene. Nevertheless, scabies is not to be considered as a ‘disease of the poor’, as it is present in all ethnic groups, at all socioeconomic levels and at all ages [1] . The most important symptom is a generalized itch resulting from a delayed type-IV hypersensitivity reaction to the mite and its eggs, saliva and feces. Topical permethrin 5% is considered to be the drug of choice [2] , being less toxic than topical lindane or systemic ivermectin. This is an important point when considering treatment of small children and pregnant women or individuals with chronic skin disease. Published online: March 6, 2009 |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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