Epidemiological Evaluation of Scabies Cases Encountered in the Last Three Years as a Tertiary Health Center.

Objectives: We aimed to reveal the change in the demographic characteristics of patients with scabies in the last three years and the increase in frequency of patients with scabies observed in our region.

Methods: All patients diagnosed as having scabies in Erzurum Regional Training and Research Hospital and Palandöken State Hospital, Clinic of Dermatology between January 2017 and December 2019 were retrospectively evaluated. Data such as age, gender, citizenship, presentation dates were recorded from the hospital database by anonymizing.

Results: The disease was significantly more common in men than women (p<0.001). Of female patients, 40.9% and of male patients, 51.9% were young adults (15-44 years of age). Of 252.261 patients who were admitted to the dermatology outpatient clinic in the past three years, 1.952 (0.77%) were diagnosed as having scabies. It was observed that the frequency of scabies gradually increased in the last three years (0.55%, 0.80% and 0.94%, respectively). The case frequency was significantly higher in 2019 compared to 2017 (p<0.001). Considering the quarters of the year, the lowest rate was observed in the first quarter of 2017, while the highest was in the last quarter of 2019 (0.42% and 1.54%, respectively). It was determined that the frequency of scabies between the quarters of the year increased significantly in the last quarters (p<0.001). One hundred and twenty six (6.5%) patients had a recurrent presentation. It was remarkable that suspicion of treatment failure gradually increased from 3.2% to 6.2% in the past three years.

Conclusion: The frequency of scabies in our region was indeed increased significantly in 2019 and especially in the 3 and 4 quarters.