1 comment.30 cases of scabies reported in Malta over the past 2 days
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The Superintendent of Public Health has announced today that as the result of investigations by the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Unit, doctors have confirmed around 30 cases of scabies over the past two days.
The investigations found that the first case was recorded on a resident in at an old people’s home. It had then been transmitted to members of staff at the home as well as their relatives, which included children. The Public Health Department said, that all had received the appropiate treatment.
The Department continued, that as some of the cases were in children, investigations were also made at schools. Meetings were held for parents to give them information on the condition and the treatment required. Two other groups with the condition were also reported and these had not been related to the first case, the Department said.
The Health Department said that contrary to what is quite often thought, scabies is not a condition causes be poor hygiene or lack of cleanliness, but is caused by a small mite which gets under the skin and causes extreme itching. The disease is transmitted from person to person through direct contact with the person or with their clothing. Treatment involves skin cream which is designed to kill the mite.
Thee Superintendent of Public Health said that there is no cause for alarm. Immediate action by the Department had been taken, as well as the necessary precautions to stop the disease from spreading.
More information on Scabies can be found here.
im 23 and used to live in malta and had scabies from october 2010 until feb/mar 2011. i knew what i had from the beginning but it took that long to see a doctor who knew what they were looking at to get proper treatment. there is obviously a large outbreak of scabies on the island that needs to be addressed and better education or at least an alert for doctors would be a start, since 4 doctors told me i did not have it. Boffa Dermatology unit finally helped me to be treated. (i am a citizen of Malta who has since moved abroad)