Incidence, Pattern and Trend of Scabies Infection in Nigeria: A Retrospective Study of 366 Cases

Abstract

Background: Scabies is a common parasitic disease seen in developing countries. It affects families, especially the most vulnerable and has its  greatest impact on young children, often resulting in secondary bacterial infection in untreated cases. A study on the disease incidence, pattern and  trend will help in designing strategies in controlling the disease prevalence and outbreaks.

Methods: The study was a retrospective analysis of skin clinic records of scabies cases seen in three tertiary centers of health care in South-Eastern  Nigeria over a five year period from September, 2012 to August, 2017. Generated data was analysed using the statistical package for social sciences  (SPSS) for Windows Version 20.0 (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) and patients’ age and gender were tabulated, and percentages calculated. Tests of associations and trends in disease presentation were also determined.

Results: A total of 13,815 patients were seen in the skin clinic out of which 336 cases were scabies giving an incidence rate of 2.4%. The mean age of  the patients seen across the three study centers 20.4 ±14.8years (range 2months-74years) were seen across the three study centers. Majority  were males (65.8%) and less than 30 years of age (82.8%). There was a progressive increase in incidence of scabies infection from 0.18% (n=8) in  2012 to 6.67% (n=132) in 2017. Patients’ gender and age were significantly associated with family members being infected and the trend showed a  gradual increase over the years.

Conclusions: There is increasing incidence of scabies in south-east Nigeria and the disease is commoner in males and young individuals. Public  health enlightenment campaigns and school/community education programs may help in controlling this emerging epidemic in Nigeria.