According to data from the State Health Institute, cases of scabies in the Czech Republic are steadily increasing. In half a year, doctors recorded nearly five thousand of them, last year they reported more than five thousand for the whole year and 2,373 in six months, thus the current figure is the highest in the last 20 years. Scabies is transmitted by direct contact with a sick person, sharing clothing or bedding. It is manifested by red pimples and persistent itching.
The cause of the itching disease is the scabies parasite. “Parasite transmission usually occurs directly, for example during close contact with the skin of a sick person, especially during sexual intercourse, in a warm environment on a bed, while sleeping in the same bed,” said the experts led by Kateřina Fabiánová in an article on the SZÚ website. It is also possible to become infected indirectly from infected bed linen or clothing. “Low levels of hygiene, promiscuity and institutionalization have contributed to the spread of this disease,” they added.
According to experts, cases occur both in isolation and as localized outbreaks, for example in schools, hospitals, dormitories, in various types of inpatient facilities, dormitories or prisons. Epidemics usually occur in cycles of approximately 15 to 20 years. In the Czech region, large ones appeared during the First and Second World Wars, another in 1970, when more than 15 thousand cases were reported, and in 1993, when there were more than 14 thousand, 9 thousand.
The spread of the disease is facilitated by low levels of hygiene, if patients are not treated and do not follow prescribed measures. “Among the possible causes are the effects of collective hypersensitivity and decreased population immunity, overpopulation and mass migration of populations, and deteriorating social and hygienic levels, increased tourism and decreased medical vigilance as part of epidemiological prevention,” said the experts in the article.
The symptom of scabies is an itchy feeling that appears especially at night after being too hot in bed. Areas with thinner skin, such as your wrists, ankles, between your toes, genitals, waist, belly button, or inner thighs, may develop a rash. It is treated repeatedly with special ointments and creams all over the body, it is also necessary to change clothes and wash clothes.
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