RESUMO
In the last decade, human scabies caused by Sarcoptes scabiei and other non human strains is one of the most common contagious parasitic disease. Over a period of one year (June 1991--May 1992), a total of 200 scabietic patients were diagnosed in the outpatients' clinic of Dermatology and Venereology, Benha University Hospitals. They were 120 females and 80 males (sex ratio = 1.5:1). Their ages ranged between three months up to 70 years old. Most of the patients were parasitologically positive (160 or 80%). The most common signs and symptoms were itching, skin burrows, scratch markings, papules and pustules. Regional lymphadenitis was sometimes present as well as fever in patients with secondary bacterial infection. The most affected sites were the abdomen (100%), followed by the buttocks (81.3%), the thigh (50%), legs (50%) and the arms and web spaces (62.5%). The male external genitalia was infested in 60% and the female breast was infested in 72.7%. The sex and site distribution of the infestations were attributed to the risk factor of exposure to infestation. The patients were successfully treated with 5% sulfur precipitate and 2-5% permethrin. The whole results were discussed on the light of the previous work.
