Scabies in Spain? A comprehensive epidemiological picture. 2021

Lidia Redondo-Bravo, and Beatriz Fernandez-Martinez, and Diana Gómez-Barroso, and Alin Gherasim, and Montserrat García-Gómez, and Agustín Benito, and Zaida Herrador
National Centre for Tropical Medicine, Health Institute Carlos III (ISCIII), Madrid, Spain.

Scabies is a neglected disease stablished worldwide with a fairy well determined incidence. In high-income countries, it often causes outbreaks affecting the residents and staff of institutions and long-term facilities, usually hard to detect and control due to the difficult diagnosis and notification delay. This study aim at characterizing the affected population, geographical distribution, and evolution of scabies in Spain from 1997-2019 as well as to describe the main environments of transmission using different data sources. We carried out a nationwide retrospective study using four databases, which record data from different perspectives: hospital admissions, patients attended at primary healthcare services, outbreaks, and occupational diseases. We described the main characteristics from each database and calculated annual incidences in order to evaluate temporal and geographical patterns. We also analyzed outbreaks and occupational settings to characterize the main transmission foci and applied Joinpoint regression models to detect trend changes. The elderly was the most frequent collective among the hospital admitted patients and notified cases in outbreaks, while children and young adults were the most affected according to primary care databases. The majority of the outbreaks occurred in homes and nursing homes; however, the facilities with more cases per outbreak were military barracks, healthcare settings and nursing homes. Most occupational cases occurred also in healthcare and social services settings, being healthcare workers the most common affected professional group. We detected a decreasing trend in scabies admissions from 1997 to 2014 (annual percentage change -APC- = -11.2%) and an increasing trend from 2014 to 2017 (APC = 23.6%). Wide geographical differences were observed depending on the database explored. An increasing trend in scabies admissions was observed in Spain since 2014, probably due to cutbacks in social services and healthcare in addition to worsen of living conditions as a result of the 2008 economic crisis, among other reasons. The main transmission foci were healthcare and social settings. Measures including enhancing epidemic studies and national registries, reinforcing clinical diagnosis and early detection of cases, hygiene improvements and training of the staff and wide implementation of scabies treatment (considering mass drug administration in institutions outbreaks) should be considered to reduce the impact of scabies among most vulnerable groups in Spain.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007223 Infant A child between 1 and 23 months of age. Infants
D007231 Infant, Newborn An infant during the first 28 days after birth. Neonate,Newborns,Infants, Newborn,Neonates,Newborn,Newborn Infant,Newborn Infants
D008297 Male Males
D008875 Middle Aged An adult aged 45 - 64 years. Middle Age
D010343 Patient Admission The process of accepting patients. The concept includes patients accepted for medical and nursing care in a hospital or other health care institution. Voluntary Admission,Admission, Patient,Admission, Voluntary,Admissions, Patient,Admissions, Voluntary,Patient Admissions,Voluntary Admissions
D012044 Regression Analysis Procedures for finding the mathematical function which best describes the relationship between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables. In linear regression (see LINEAR MODELS) the relationship is constrained to be a straight line and LEAST-SQUARES ANALYSIS is used to determine the best fit. In logistic regression (see LOGISTIC MODELS) the dependent variable is qualitative rather than continuously variable and LIKELIHOOD FUNCTIONS are used to find the best relationship. In multiple regression, the dependent variable is considered to depend on more than a single independent variable. Regression Diagnostics,Statistical Regression,Analysis, Regression,Analyses, Regression,Diagnostics, Regression,Regression Analyses,Regression, Statistical,Regressions, Statistical,Statistical Regressions
D002648 Child A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is CHILD, PRESCHOOL. Children
D002675 Child, Preschool A child between the ages of 2 and 5. Children, Preschool,Preschool Child,Preschool Children
D004196 Disease Outbreaks Sudden increase in the incidence of a disease. The concept includes EPIDEMICS and PANDEMICS. Outbreaks,Infectious Disease Outbreaks,Disease Outbreak,Disease Outbreak, Infectious,Disease Outbreaks, Infectious,Infectious Disease Outbreak,Outbreak, Disease,Outbreak, Infectious Disease,Outbreaks, Disease,Outbreaks, Infectious Disease
D005260 Female Females

Related Publications

Lidia Redondo-Bravo, and Beatriz Fernandez-Martinez, and Diana Gómez-Barroso, and Alin Gherasim, and Montserrat García-Gómez, and Agustín Benito, and Zaida Herrador
March 1979, Nursing mirror,
Lidia Redondo-Bravo, and Beatriz Fernandez-Martinez, and Diana Gómez-Barroso, and Alin Gherasim, and Montserrat García-Gómez, and Agustín Benito, and Zaida Herrador
April 1970, Der Hautarzt; Zeitschrift fur Dermatologie, Venerologie, und verwandte Gebiete,
Lidia Redondo-Bravo, and Beatriz Fernandez-Martinez, and Diana Gómez-Barroso, and Alin Gherasim, and Montserrat García-Gómez, and Agustín Benito, and Zaida Herrador
February 1974, Srpski arhiv za celokupno lekarstvo,
Lidia Redondo-Bravo, and Beatriz Fernandez-Martinez, and Diana Gómez-Barroso, and Alin Gherasim, and Montserrat García-Gómez, and Agustín Benito, and Zaida Herrador
January 1978, International journal of dermatology,
Lidia Redondo-Bravo, and Beatriz Fernandez-Martinez, and Diana Gómez-Barroso, and Alin Gherasim, and Montserrat García-Gómez, and Agustín Benito, and Zaida Herrador
October 2003, Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin,
Lidia Redondo-Bravo, and Beatriz Fernandez-Martinez, and Diana Gómez-Barroso, and Alin Gherasim, and Montserrat García-Gómez, and Agustín Benito, and Zaida Herrador
January 1971, Journal of hygiene, epidemiology, microbiology, and immunology,
Lidia Redondo-Bravo, and Beatriz Fernandez-Martinez, and Diana Gómez-Barroso, and Alin Gherasim, and Montserrat García-Gómez, and Agustín Benito, and Zaida Herrador
March 1978, Dermatologische Monatschrift,
Lidia Redondo-Bravo, and Beatriz Fernandez-Martinez, and Diana Gómez-Barroso, and Alin Gherasim, and Montserrat García-Gómez, and Agustín Benito, and Zaida Herrador
January 1970, Sovetskoe zdravookhranenie Kirgizii,
Lidia Redondo-Bravo, and Beatriz Fernandez-Martinez, and Diana Gómez-Barroso, and Alin Gherasim, and Montserrat García-Gómez, and Agustín Benito, and Zaida Herrador
October 1970, Vestnik dermatologii i venerologii,
Lidia Redondo-Bravo, and Beatriz Fernandez-Martinez, and Diana Gómez-Barroso, and Alin Gherasim, and Montserrat García-Gómez, and Agustín Benito, and Zaida Herrador
March 1973, Wiener klinische Wochenschrift,
Copied contents to your clipboard!