This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Walton, S. F.
Right arrow Articles by Currie, B. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Walton, S. F.
Right arrow Articles by Currie, B. J.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Clinical Microbiology Reviews, April 2007, p. 268-279, Vol. 20, No. 2
0893-8512/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/CMR.00042-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Problems in Diagnosing Scabies, a Global Disease in Human and Animal Populations

Shelley F. Walton1,2* and Bart J. Currie1,2,3

Menzies School of Health Research,1 Institute of Advanced Studies, Charles Darwin University,2 Northern Territory Clinical School, Flinders University and Department of Medicine, Royal Darwin Hospital, Darwin, Australia3

Scabies is a worldwide disease and a major public health problem in many developing countries, related primarily to poverty and overcrowding. In remote Aboriginal communities in northern Australia, prevalences of up to 50% among children have been described, despite the availability of effective chemotherapy. Sarcoptic mange is also an important veterinary disease engendering significant morbidity and mortality in wild, domestic, and farmed animals. Scabies is caused by the ectoparasitic mite Sarcoptes scabiei burrowing into the host epidermis. Clinical symptoms include intensely itchy lesions that often are a precursor to secondary bacterial pyoderma, septicemia, and, in humans, poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis. Although diagnosed scabies cases can be successfully treated, the rash of the primary infestation takes 4 to 6 weeks to develop, and thus, transmission to others often occurs prior to therapy. In humans, the symptoms of scabies infestations can mimic other dermatological skin diseases, and traditional tests to diagnose scabies are less than 50% accurate. To aid early identification of disease and thus treatment, a simple, cheap, sensitive, and specific test for routine diagnosis of active scabies is essential. Recent developments leading to the expression and purification of S. scabiei recombinant antigens have identified a number of molecules with diagnostic potential, and current studies include the investigation and assessment of the accuracy of these recombinant proteins in identifying antibodies in individuals with active scabies and in differentiating those with past exposure. Early identification of disease will enable selective treatment of those affected, reduce transmission and the requirement for mass treatment, limit the potential for escalating mite resistance, and provide another means of controlling scabies in populations in areas of endemicity.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Menzies School of Health Research, P.O. Box 41096, Casuarina NT 0811, Australia. Phone: 61 8 89228928. Fax: 61 8 89275187. E-mail: Shelley.Walton{at}menzies.edu.au

Clinical Microbiology Reviews, April 2007, p. 268-279, Vol. 20, No. 2
0893-8512/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/CMR.00042-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»