Dermatologists fear infections from scabies, ringworm and other fungal infections will continue to rise

“Sometimes we have to hide because everyone would like to have a dermatologist in their pocket”. This is how Isabel Belinchón, first vice president of the Spanish Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (AEDV), joked yesterday at the press conference to present the 50th congress of this scientific society, which is being held these days in Santiago de Compostela.

And no wonder. Skin diseases are one of the most common causes of human disease and are increasing, even those that seemed banished from our vocabulary because they are often associated with other times or with poor populations and lack of hygiene.. This is the case of scabies or ringworm, diseases that our grandparents had to deal with, especially in Spain during the civil war and the postwar period, and with which we have to deal again today.

In January, dermatologists already warned of an outbreak of ringworm of the scalp in adolescents, associated with shaved or faded haircuts in hairdressers.. Tinea capitis is highly contagious and “it is likely that the contaminated shaving material is being shared among the different clients of some hairdressers who are not taking into account the regulations for disinfection of material,” explains Leonardo Bascón, a dermatologist at the General Hospital of Granollers. and lead author of the study Outbreak of dermatophytosis in the head and neck region associated with shaving in hairdressers: a multicenter descriptive study of a series of cases, which raised the alarm in January.

Almost half of the dermatologists who participated in the study and have been surveyed afterwards have observed a decrease in cases, underlines Bascón. 5% saw increases, which means that some hairdresser still does not take the appropriate hygienic-sanitary measures. “It is something that we dermatologists emphasize, that more measures are taken from Public Health to regulate the hygienic measures of these establishments, since 70% of professionals indicate that they have not been taken in their Autonomous Communities,” Bascón emphasizes.

As for scabies (or scabies), increases have been observed since before the Covid pandemic, but confinement exacerbated this problem. “Since 2011 it is suspected that there are more cases, although it is difficult to quantify it because it is not a notifiable disease anywhere in the world, except in institutional or professional outbreaks, and there are no good studies on this disease, some show contradictory data. with differences in incidence ranging from 0.2 to 71% in some places, but not because there are more, but because more money is allocated to study it,” says Cristina Galván, vice president of the International Alliance for the Control of Scabies (IACS). , for its acronym in English) and member of the Foundation Fight against Infections.

Contrary to what is usually associated in the popular imagination (dirt and poverty), scabies can affect anyone. It is a parasitic mite that infects the most superficial layer of the skin, which generates an immune reaction in our body, which defends itself, and this reaction is what causes dermatitis and scratching.. Among the circumstances that favor the increase in scabies are changes in sexual habits, the increase in life expectancy (which means that there are more people institutionalized in centers) and some treatments that keep us alive and make some diseases chronic but are medications Immunosuppressants that suppress the body's defenses.

These are some of the issues that Dr. Galván will address at the congress, within her presentation Epidemiological challenges in current dermatology: diseases with increasing incidence and prevention strategies. Also the importance of treating those affected and all their close contacts. Galván hopes that the launch of the CLINI-AEDV scabies study, by the Academy of Dermatology, to see the situation of this pathology in our country, is a step, albeit a small one, to take this problem more seriously.

There are other infectious diseases that have re-emerged in recent years, such as Arthroderma benhamiae, transmitted by guinea pigs, says Vicente García-Patos, from the Dermatology Service of the Vall d'Hebron Hospital in Barcelona.. Also endemic mycoses, such as blastomycosis and coccidiodomycosis, probably closely related to climate change, according to García-Patos.