Science Photo Library
NOS News•
Jules Jessurun
editor Online
Jules Jessurun
editor Online
The number of people with scabies was higher than in previous years at the end of last year and early this year and while the numbers appear to be stabilizing somewhat, concerns remain. Experts insist on the importance of information to, among other things, break the taboo and ensure that people do not infect each other again and again.
“It really drives people to despair,” says dermatologist Annemie Galimont. She receives patients with scabies in the Bravis hospital in Roosendaal, among other places. “They really suffer from this. It’s not about a little itching. They sometimes hardly sleep at night. And if you’ve missed something in the treatment, you’re back to square one.”
No notification requirement
Because there is no obligation to report, it is difficult to get an overall picture of how big the problem is in the Netherlands. The GGDs have informed the RIVM that there is an increase. “Unfortunately, we have been seeing an increase in scabies in our region since 2015,” says a spokesperson for GGD Hollands-Midden.
The weekly figures of general practitioners, which the research institute Nivel collects, are also an indication. This shows that this year between ten and twenty people per 100,000 people with scabies came to the doctor.
Galimont warns of a “ping-pong effect”. It is necessary that someone with scabies warn everyone in the area and that these people are treated, otherwise people will continue to infect each other. “It is not mandatory to warn each other if you have scabies. And people often don’t do that out of shame.”
Although the dermatologist emphasizes that it is not only students who are infected, this group is at greater risk because of the many social contacts they have, especially if they live in student houses and not everyone is treated at the same time. That is why RIVM will probably start a campaign aimed at students later this year, a spokesperson reported. She also expresses her concern about the “ping-pong effect”.
Galimont wholeheartedly welcomes such a campaign. “If you can explain to people that it’s just bad luck that you get it, then you take it out of the taboo sphere.”
Nivel investigated how many people between 15 and 24 years old with scabies visit their GP, the blue line is the number in 2022:
Level
There is still a slight increase in the total number of cases every year and in 2021 and early 2022 there was even a huge peak. Galimont is still amazed by it. “In the beginning, we even thought we had a new mite that could jump far, but it was about an increase in people who secretly had contact with other family members or friends despite the lockdown. And there was certainly an increase in student houses.”
The fact that the figures are still high is partly due to the fact that people are traveling more again. “And young people are also picking up their lives more and they have much more physical contacts. I see that with my adolescent children. They stick to each other, and lend out clothes. But business people in expensive hotels can also get it.”
Science Photo Library
Stories are circulating that there is a scabies mite mutation that is less sensitive to drugs, says the RIVM spokesperson. “But that hasn’t been proven yet.” The GGDs and the Dutch Association for Dermatology and Venereology are also having research done on this. Galimont is so far not very concerned about resistant mites. “We think that most infections do not go away because the treatment has not been carried out exactly, for example because people apply too little cream.”
The question is whether the increase in the disease in the Netherlands can be stopped. And eradicating it completely in our country is an illusion, says Galimont. “As long as there’s globalization, this will go around.” She thinks we just have to get used to it being there. “We still have head lice, and athlete’s foot too.”
Mary Evans/ Picture Library Ltd.