Doctors' fears over explosion in Victorian disease cases amid drugs shortage
Medics are seeing a surge in cases of a Victorian disease dubbed a "nightmare" as it poses a serious public threat.
Skin condition scabies is on the rise amidst a crisis in resources to treat it, with one part of the UK seeing cases almost double in November. Caused by mites laying eggs in the skin, the nasty and extremely contagious disease is known for leaving people with itchy skin and raised rashes.
It's quick to spread through skin-on-skin contact, yet doctors are currently facing a shortage of the two drugs used to treat it. Permethrin and malathion are both in short supply due to the war in Ukraine and the rise in costs of raw materials.
GPs in some parts of the country - particularly in the North - are currently facing a supply crisis, and the problem is leading to some patients to fork out for expensive alternatives online. One professor said the scabies outbreak had hit care homes and university campuses particularly hard.
Prof Mabs Chowdhury, the president of the British Association of Dermatologists, told The Guardian that the matter was "something that urgently needs more attention" and that the consequences of drug supply issues were proving "easy to ignore".
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"There is very limited tracking of scabies cases and people are often embarrassed to talk about it." He added: “If even one person isn’t treated completely, everyone can be reinfected."
Out of nine representatives for different UK regions, a survey commissioned by The Guardian found that almost all (eight) had seen a rise in scabies cases over the past 12 months. Seven out of the nine also said they were seeing a shortage of the two drugs used to treat it.
According to experts, the condition on its own is not severe but can exacerbate other existing conditions such as eczema or psoriasis, while scratching it can cause it to become infected and cause impetigo, which leads to life-threatening conditions. The disease, which was virulent during the Victorian period due to poor sanitation in deprived areas,
As a result, doctors say the disease still has a disease attached to it and many are too embarrassed to report it. Dr Tess McPherson said doctors and skin specialists were treating an increasing number of scabies cases in children and young people, with her own son catching the illness while at university.
According to the NHS, symptoms of scabies include intense itching - particularly at night time - and raised rashes or spots, which may appear red, brown or black depending on the colour of the patient's skin. Rashes tend to spread across the whole body, apart from the head and neck and often affect skin between the fingers, around the wrists, under the arms, and around the waist, groin and bottom.
Older people and young children can develop rashes on the head, neck, palms and soles of their feet. Those with a weakened immune system can also catch a rare and very contagious type of scabies, called crusted scabies, which results in a crusted, flaky rash that often affects the elbows, knees, hands and feet.
How to treat scabies:
A pharmacist will recommend a cream or lotion that you apply over your whole body. It's important to read the instructions carefully. Let the pharmacist know if you're breastfeeding or pregnant. You'll need to repeat the treatment one week later.
Scabies is very infectious, but it can take up to 8 weeks for the rash to appear. Everyone in your home needs to be treated at the same time, even if they do not have symptoms. But do not use pharmacy treatments on children under 2 years old, they will need to see a GP. Anyone you’ve had sexual contact with in the past 8 weeks should also be treated.
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