'Scabies' alarm in Samsun

In January 2024, 4 thousand people visited hospitals due to itching. In Samsun, where the threat of scabies persists, Dr. Hatice Öz, Head of Public Health Services at the Samsun Provincial Health Directorate, warned citizens.

“FAMILY MEMBERS ARE NOT PARTICIPATING IN TREATMENT”

Issuing warnings, Head of Public Health Services Dr. Hatice Öz said, “Following an increase in cases presenting with itching complaints in our city, especially as of October last year, an action plan was prepared by our Public Health Services Directorate regarding this issue. The main goal of the action plan was to eliminate the problem of family members not participating in treatment, which we believe has a major impact on the spread of the disease. Within the framework of this plan, we started information and training activities, especially in areas where cases are concentrated in our city. When we look at the scabies data for Samsun as of January 2024, we see that we are approaching this goal and that the number of scabies cases in our city has decreased by 21 percent compared to October. Although our case numbers show a rapid downward trend compared to October, we are still far ahead of the figures from previous years. When we look at the data, we see that we reached the total number of scabies cases detected in Samsun in the 7-year period between 2015 and 2021 in just the year 2023. In other words, we reached the number of cases detected in seven years in just a single year.”

“OUR CASE NUMBER IS STILL OVER 4 THOUSAND”

Stating that the risky period has not passed, Hatice Öz said, “Although our case numbers are decreasing rapidly thanks to the training we provide and the field work carried out by our teams, the risky period is not over. We are still in a period where we all need to continue to be careful. Our schools are on break. Winter conditions have started to show their face in our city. Therefore, we have a period ahead of us where we will spend time together in crowded groups in our homes. As of the first 15 days, our case number in January is still over 4 thousand. When we bring all these factors together, we need to make a little more effort together to reduce scabies cases. For this reason, I would like to repeat the warning we made in November: Please do not underestimate scabies, which can be transmitted in minutes through short-term direct body contact of 10-15 minutes, a slightly long conversation on a friend's mobile phone, or shared items such as towels, sheets, cardigans, and gloves.”

“WHEN YOU IDENTIFY PEOPLE SHOWING SYMPTOMS OF ITCHING, KEEP YOUR DISTANCE FROM THEM”

Pointing out that the most important symptom of the disease is persistent itching that increases at night, Öz said, “Let's not say it will pass in a few days, let's immediately consult a physician with all family members. As the Health Directorate, we continue to monitor cases regionally with our teams, and we continue our training intensively through our District Health Directorates. You can also support our efforts by keeping your distance from people you identify as showing symptoms of itching in your environment and avoiding the use of shared items and spaces. With the precautions you take and the field work our teams will continue, hopefully, we will reduce the cases to the levels of 5 years ago within the next two months and remove this disease from our city's agenda.”

News Source: İHA