Health Sciences University Ankara Dışkapı Yıldırım Beyazıt Training and Research Hospital Dermatology Clinic Administrative Education Officer Prof. Dr. Selda Pelin Kartal said that scabies is a highly contagious parasite that causes itching. Kartal said, “In fact, although we have seen a gradual increase in our country since 2018, we observe an increase in the applications of scabies patients due to the increase in the time spent indoors and together in the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. In the last 1 year, scabies cases have increased by 50 percent compared to hospital cases. “Patients used to come to us when they first started to itch, it was not passed on to their families with whom they lived at home, but now we observe that the patient comes to us very late and people at home also itch,” he said.
”15 MINUTES OF CONTACT IS ENOUGH FOR CONTAINMENT”
Stating that scabies can be seen in everyone, Kartal said, “This is a contagious disease and it takes 15 to 30 minutes of contact for the parasite to pass on to someone. Scabies impairs the quality of life a lot. That’s why the person itches a lot. Especially at night, it causes an unbearable itching and this is the case. it is a public health problem; it can infect other people, it does not go away on its own. Since it is also transmitted to other people, the number of patients increases rapidly. There is an itching that is especially concentrated in the wrists, body, genital area. These parasites enter under the skin and lay their eggs. They dig a tunnel and from there for about After 2 to 6 weeks, complaints begin to appear,” he said.
“WORKS LIKE A TUNNEL DIGGING MACHINE”
Dermatology Specialist Dr. Aslan Hearted said, “This mange beetle works just like a tunnel-digging machine. It moves under the skin by moving its mouth to and fro. But this tunnel we are talking about is not such a big tunnel. It actually occupies a place in our body the size of a pin. it builds its house. Then it lays its eggs and causes the disease to become more chronic. If the patient does not come to the hospital at the right time or if all family members are not treated, it becomes chronic, the number of cases is increasing. One of the biggest reasons for the increase in cases we have seen recently is incomplete treatment. “The patient put the medicine on his hand, then he went, washed the dishes, and the medicine he was using disappeared. Therefore, scabies continues to breed there. You went to the toilet. You washed your hand. You need to apply the medicine to that area again,” he said.
(DHA)