Dr. Mohamed bin Ahmed Garout, Assistant Professor at the Department of Community Medicine and Pilgrims Health Care in the College of Medicine, highlighted that patients who have scabies can go to their schools and works in the day following the day of starting the treatment.  The incubation period of the disease ranges between 14 and 21 days and it may extend to two months. The patient could infect others even if the disease’s symptoms did not appear.

This was discussed in the “Scabies..Facts and Illusions” seminar, which was headed by Dr. Ayman Jawaherjy, the Dean of College of Nursing, and organized by UQU Institute of Research and Consultation Studies, represented by the Continuing Medical Education Unit and Risk and Crisis Management Center (SAFE), with the cooperation of the Medical Colleges in the University. It was held in the Supportive Hall of King Abdul-Aziz Historical Hall at the University Campus in Al-Abediya. The seminar comes as a part of the awareness campaign launched by Dr. Abdullah bin Omar BaFail, President of Umm Al-Qura University (UQU), under the theme of “Prevention, Safety, and No Epidemics”. 

Dr. Garout explained that the human scabies is one of the contagious skin diseases that is distinguished by severe scratching that is caused by a type of  parasites called scab mites. These are considered small parasites that are invisible to the eye, with a size of 1/3 millimeter. These bugs belong to the arachnids. He added that the scab mites bugs start in building their nests by digging small ditch or cave of 2 millimeter in the stratum corneum of the skin surface, as they lay around 200 eggs daily. He stressed on the fact that the parasite of the scab mites can live outside the human body for a period that ranges between 48-72 hours.

The Assistant Professor at the Department of Community Medicine and Pilgrims Health Care in the College of Medicine described the scabies as one of the common diseases around the world. The number of those infected by the disease ranges between 150 to 300 million patients yearly. He added that it infects all the ethnics and social categories. It also easily spreads in the crowd and congestion, schools, nursing homes and extended care facilities.

In his working paper, Dr. Reda Abdul Moaty Juwaida, the Community Medicine and Pilgrims Health Care Professor in the College of Medicine, cited a number of photos for the scabies and its side effects on the body. He said that it is a severe scratching that getting worse at night, it is mostly caused by touching a patient. He added that its side effects on the children could cause continual crying. The disease is considered a rash that spreads between fingers, in the wrist, elbow, armpit, abdomen, waist, genital organs, and knees, and it can be seen. In children, its side effects could be seen in the areas of head, top of feet and hands. He assured that the main reason of the remedy failure is not following the instructions.

Dr. Raafat Abdel Moneim, the Medical Parasitology Professor at the UQU College of Applied Medical Sciences, presented the history of scabies, highlighting that it was known 2,500 years ago. He noted that the ancient Romans used to treat it by a cream made of sulfur in a liquid of tar. The clinical diagnosis of scabies is done by the traditional method of the examination under the microscope or the modern method with the molecular biology.