Scabies a hidden horror Biblical disease thriving in remote Territory locations

IT’S the biblical disease thriving in the Northern Territory.

Crusted scabies is almost wiped out in the rest of the world, but in remote corners of the NT, the disease is commonplace.

In five years, there were 42 admissions to Katherine Hospital for crusted scabies. A quarter of those patients were dead six months later. Crusted scabies is the advanced form of scabies, the skin disease caused by tiny mites.

Flinders University senior lecturer Simon Quilty, who is Katherine Hospital’s head physician, said crusted scabies was so rare in other parts of Australia, most doctors didn’t recognise it. In the NT, it’s a common presentation.

“Up here, throughout the Top End and Central Australia, we estimate that as many as one in 100 Aboriginal people have crusted scabies,” he said.

Dr Quilty said the condition almost exclusively affected indigenous people.

The disease carries a heavy stigma, so it is often hidden from view of the wider popu- lation, despite its prevalence.

“It’s not very visible. Most of those people (with crusted scabies) live in very remote locations, and even those people don’t understand what’s causing it.

“Often, they’re embarrassed by it, so they hide their skin,” he said.

The disease also leaves its sufferers with weakened immune systems, making them more susceptible to rare infections.

The “disfiguring” disease was traumatic to its sufferers, Dr Quilty said.

And the initial treatment can make the itching even worse. “I’ve had people in hospital for up to a couple of months – it’s a very gruelling treatment,” Dr Quilty said.

In some regions of Arnhem Land, up to 70 per cent of babies are infected with scabies before their first birthday.

Dr Quilty said wiping it out within his lifetime was an attainable goal, but would require “fresh new ideas”.

“There are solutions to these problems. We can resolve it; we’re a wealthy country,” he said.