Cases of scabies, a highly contagious parasitic skin disease, are on the rise across Europe. The UK in particular is struggling with a shortage of treatments.
In recent months, Naveed Ijaz, a general practitioner specializing in dermatology, has seen a growing number of patients presenting at his clinic in Manchester, UK, with intensely itchy rashes. Their cause is scabies, a highly contagious skin condition caused by the Sarcoptes scabiei mite, which can result in these itchy rashes spreading all across the body. “I am extremely concerned, chiefly because of the shortage of treatments available,” says Ijaz.
“The reality is that we see a lot of failure, where people put on this medication and end up continuing to have scabies and infecting other people, because the application is so difficult.” In Britain, there’s also another factor at play: a months-long severe shortage of treatments. Paula Geanau of the British Association of Dermatologists told WIRED in an email that this is due to both lingering pandemic-related supply chain issues and import problems relating to Brexit.