Scientific publications

A facility and community-based assessment of scabies in rural Malawi. Scientific Publication

Jun 1, 2021 | Magazine: PLoS Neglected Tropical Disease

Cristina Galván-Casas  1   2   3 , Oriol Mitjá  4   5   6 , Sara Esteban  7 , Jacob Kafulafula  8 , Texon Phiri  9 , Íñigo Navarro-Fernández  10 , Concepción Román-Curto  11 , Hassani Mtenje  9 , Gerald Thauzeni  12 , Elizabeth Harawa  13 , Stephano Kaluzi  14 , Mphatso Diere  15 , Mary Mkandawire  9 , Shaibu Malizani  9 , Alex Chifundo  9 , Marta Utrera-Busquets  16 , Mónica Roncero-Riesco  11 , Sara López Martín-Prieto  17 , Iosune Vilanova-Urdániz  18 , Gisela H Petiti  19 , María Victoria de Gálvez Aranda  20 , Nuria No Pérez  21 , María Rueda Gómez-Calcerrada  22 , Pilar Iranzo  23 , Pilar Escalonilla García-Patos  24 , Magdalena de Troya-Martín  25 , Javier Romero Gomez  26 , Esther Cardeñoso-Alvarez  11 , Sofia Lucas Truyols  27 , Libe Aspe Unanue  28 , Cristina Bajo Del Pozo  29 , Alicia Comunión Artieda  30 , Maria Isabel Martínez González  28 , Omar F López-López  31 , Esther Moreno-Artero  32 , Xavier Cubiró  33 , Iago Meilán-Sánchez  34 , Alejandra Tomás-Velázquez  35 , Cristina López-Sánchez  33 , Eva M Sánchez-Martínez  36 , Harrison A Edwards  37   38   39 , Maria Herrera Morueco  40 , Julia Zehe Rubiera  41 , Laura Salguero Caldera  42 , Urbano Blanes-Moreno  43 , Maria Uribarren-Movilla  44 , Michael Marks  45


Background: Scabies is a neglected tropical disease of the skin, causing severe itching, stigmatizing skin lesions and systemic complications. Since 2015, the DerMalawi project provide an integrated skin diseases clinics and Tele-dermatology care in Malawi.

Clinic based data suggested a progressive increase in scabies cases observed. To better identify and treat individuals with scabies in the region, we shifted from a clinic-based model to a community based outreach programme.

Methodology/principal findings: From May 2015, DerMalawi project provide integrated skin diseases and Tele-dermatological care in the Nkhotakota and Salima health districts in Malawi. Demographic and clinical data of all patients personally attended are recorded.

Due to a progressive increase in the number of cases of scabies the project shifted to a community-based outreach programme. For the community outreach activities, we conducted three visits between 2018 to 2019 and undertook screening in schools and villages of Alinafe Hospital catchment area.

Treatment was offered for all the cases and school or household contacts. Scabies increased from 2.9% to 39.2% of all cases seen by the DerMalawi project at clinics between 2015 to 2018. During the community-based activities approximately 50% of the population was assessed in each of three visits.

The prevalence of scabies was similar in the first two rounds, 15.4% (2392) at the first visit and 17.2% at the second visit. The prevalence of scabies appeared to be lower (2.4%) at the third visit. The prevalence of impetigo appeared unchanged and was 6.7% at the first visit and 5.2% at the final visit.

Conclusions/significance: Prevalence of scabies in our setting was very high suggesting that scabies is a major public health problem in parts of Malawi. Further work is required to more accurately assess the burden of disease and develop appropriate public health strategies for its control.

CITATION  PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2021 Jun 1;15(6):e0009386.  doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0009386. eCollection 2021 Jun.