After a large scabies outbreak in Makkah city (started at 25/3/2018, 270cases), al Qassim city registered cases of scabies. We sought to identify risk factors for scabies infection and to identify any relationship between this outbreak and Makkah city outbreak.
Methodology
We conducted a community-based matched case-control study (1: 2 ratio).Cases( Any person who has skin scraping with identified mites, mite eggs or mite feces ) recruited from scabies line-listed data and controls were persons randomly selected from the same district by primary healthcare centers inside the region. We interviewed cases and controls using a standard questionnaire; data were analyzed using SPSS version 23. We calculated descriptive statistics and odds ratios (ORs) using the logistic re-gression method.
Results
We analyzed data from 40 cases and 80 controls. The mean age of cases was 24 years old, and the most affected age group was 1-14 years. Independent risk factors found to statistically associated with scabies infestation were age less than 15 years (AOR = 4.0, 95% CI: 1.098-14.243) and contact history with a suspected scabies case (AOR = 5.0, 95% CI: 0.963-23.701).
Conclusion
We confirmed a scabies outbreak in AL Qassim region, Saudi Arabia. We identified age less than 15 years and contact history with suspected scabies as independent risk factors associated with scabies in this outbreak. We did not determine any relationship between this outbreak and the Makkah city outbreak