How strong is the relationship between scabies and acute rheumatic fever? An analysis of neighbourhood factors.

Aim: Recent studies have linked scabies with acute rheumatic fever (ARF). We explored the relationship, by neighbourhood, between permethrin dispensing as an indicator of scabies prevalence and ARF cases over the same period.

Methods: Incident cases of ARF notified to public health between September 2015 and June 2018 and the annual incidence of prescribing by neighbourhood over the same period were analysed.