Epidemiological characteristics of 530 patients with scabies in Fuzhou City

doi:10.12140/j.issn.1000-7423.2026.04.025

Abstract

Abstract:

To investigate the epidemiological features of patients with scabies attending the Outpatient Department, Institute of Dermatology, Fuzhou First General Hospital, the medical records of 530 patients with scabies with definitive diagnosis by dermoscopy and meeting the inclusion criteria in the Outpatient Department during the period between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2025 were retrospectively collected, and the gender and age distributions, lesion sites, and time of definitive diagnosis were analyzed among patients with scabies using a descriptive epidemiological method. Among the 530 patients, there were 284 men and 246 women, with a male-to-female ratio of approximately 1.2: 1, and these patients had ages of 10 months to 95 years, with 12.3% (65/530) aged of 0 to 14 years, 24.9% (132/530) aged of 15 to 34 years, 17.7% (94/530) aged of 35 to 59 years, 12.3% (65/530) aged of 60 to 69 years, 16.6% (88/530) aged of 70 to 79 years, and 16.2% (86/530) aged of 80 to 99 years, respectively. All patients presented with pruritus and signs of scratching, and the most common sites of skin injury were palms and interdigital spaces (90.6%, 480/530), followed by scrotum and penis (3.4%, 18/530), buttocks and perianal region (1.5%, 18/530), chest and abdomen (1.5%, 8/530), lower extremities (0.4%, 2/530), bottom and dorsum of the foot (0.9%, 5/530), forearms (0.8%, 4/530), axillae (0.5%, 3/530), and back (0.4%, 2/530), respectively. Dermoscopy of skin lesions showed tunnel-like structures and brown triangle spots in the end of curved white curves. The number of scabies cases remained relatively stable from January through August, increased remarkably from September to November, and peaked in November. There is a high proportion of individuals at ages of 60 years and older among patients with definitive diagnosis of scabies in the Outpatient Department, Institute of Dermatology, Fuzhou First General Hospital, and the most common sites of skin injury are palms and interdigital spaces. The number of patients with definitive diagnosis of scabies appeared a tendency towards an increase in autumn.

Key words: Scabies, Epidemiological investigation, Population distribution, Fuzhou

CLC Number:

R757.1

JING Yue’e, WANG Lili, CHEN Jun, WENG Liqiang, LONG Qinqin. Epidemiological characteristics of 530 patients with scabies in Fuzhou City[J]. CHINESE JOURNAL OF PARASITOLOGY AND PARASITIC DISEASES, 2026, 44(4): 623-625.

Figures/Tables 2

References 17

[1]	Li J, Liu Z, Xia X. The disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), prevalence and incidence of scabies, 1990-2021: a systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021[J]. PLoS Negl Trop Dis, 2024, 18(12): e0012775.
[2]	金秋百, 刘欣茜, 吴琳, 等. 1990-2021年我国皮肤及皮下组织疾病负担变化趋势分析[J]. 皮肤科学通报, 2026, 43(2): 161-169.
	Jin QB, Liu XQ, Wu L, et al. Analysis of the trend in the burden of skin and subcutaneous tissue diseases in China 1990-2021[J]. Dermatol Bull, 2026, 43(2): 161-169. (in Chinese)
[3]	孙纯鸽, 郑良, 王辉. 一起ICU工作人员结痂型疥疮感染暴发的调查与处置[J]. 中华医院感染学杂志, 2025, 35(16): 2437-2440.
	Sun CG, Zheng L, Wang H. Investigation and management of a crusted scabies outbreak among ICU staff[J]. Chin J Nosocomiology, 2025, 35(16): 2437-2440. (in Chinese)
[4]	杨艺琳, 初同胜, 蔡立好, 等. 济南市某养老院疥疮暴发事件流行病学调查[J]. 中国麻风皮肤病杂志, 2025, 41(10): 710-711.
	Yang YL, Chu TS, Cai LH, et al. Epidemiological investigation of a scabies outbreak in a nursing home in Jinan City[J]. China J Lepr Skin Dis, 2025, 41(10): 710-711. (in Chinese)
[5]	Sharaf MS. Scabies: immunopathogenesis and pathological changes[J]. Parasitol Res, 2024, 123(3): 149.
[6]	Thomas C, Coates SJ, Engelman D, et al. Ectoparasites scabies[J]. J Am Acad Dermatol, 2020, 82(3): 533-548.
[7]	Zhang G, Cui M, Zhang Y, et al. Clinical features of 170 Chinese scabies cases and the therapeutic efficacy of sulfur ointment[J]. PLoS Negl Trop Dis, 2026, 20(7): e0014493.
[8]	Engelman D, Yoshizumi J, Hay RJ, et al. The 2020 international alliance for the control of scabies consensus criteria for the diagnosis of scabies[J]. Br J Dermatol, 2020, 183(5): 808-820.
[9]	孟如松, 崔勇. 多模态皮肤病医学影像诊断图谱[M]. 北京: 人民卫生出版社, 2021: 477-478.
	Meng RS, Cui Y. Medical image diagnosis atlas of multimodal dermatosis[M]. Beijing: People’s Medical Publishing House, 2021: 477-478. (in Chinese)
[10]	Hengge UR, Currie BJ, Jäger G, et al. Scabies: a ubiquitous neglected skin disease[J]. Lancet Infect Dis, 2006, 6(12): 769-779.
[11]	Cassell JA, Middleton J, Nalabanda A, et al. Scabies outbreaks in ten care homes for elderly people: a prospective study of clinical features, epidemiology, and treatment outcomes[J]. Lancet Infect Dis, 2018, 18(8): 894-902.
[12]	林慧艳, 王欢, 顾晓峰, 等. 一起重症医学科疥疮暴发的防控[J]. 军事医学, 2025, 49(4): 318-320.
	Lin HY, Wang H, Gu XF, et al. Infection control of a scabies outbreak in an intensive care unit[J]. Mil Med Sci, 2025, 49(4): 318-320. (in Chinese)
[13]	吴跃, 曹召武, 张辉. 住校学生疥疮患者152例分析[J]. 中国校医, 2021, 35(3): 185-187.
	Wu Y, Cao ZW, Zhang H. Analysis of prevalence state and infection factors of 152 residential students with scabies[J]. Chin J Sch Doctor, 2021, 35(3): 185-187. (in Chinese)
[14]	Bhat SA, Walton SF, Ventura T, et al. Early immune suppression leads to uncontrolled mite proliferation and potent host inflammatory responses in a porcine model of crusted versus ordinary scabies[J]. PLoS Negl Trop Dis, 2020, 14(9): e0008601.
[15]	Kim HS, Hashimoto T, Fischer K, et al. Scabies itch: an update on neuroimmune interactions and novel targets[J]. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol, 2021, 35(9): 1765-1776.
[16]	刘香, 牛李莉, 鲁楠, 等. 747例疥疮临床特征分析[J]. 中华全科医师杂志, 2023, 22(10): 1057-1061.
	Liu X, Niu LL, Lu N, et al. Clinical characteristics of scabies: an analysis of 747 cases[J]. Chin J Gen Pract, 2023, 22(10): 1057-1061. (in Chinese)
[17]	Halder CE, Hasan MA, kello JC, et al. Seasonality of scabies and itsassociation with climatic factors in Rohingya refugeecamps, Cox’s Bazar: a retrospective observationalstudy, 2021-2023[J]. BMJ Open, 2026, 16: el17016.