The number of patients being diagnosed with scabies at Warrington and Halton Hospital has increased, according to recent data. NHS figures reveal that approximately 20 patients received a primary or secondary diagnosis of scabies after visiting the A&E services at the trust in the year leading up to March. This marks a significant rise from the 10 cases reported the previous year.
Experts attribute the surge in diseases like scabies, measles, and whooping cough across England to factors such as poverty and declining vaccination rates. Scabies is a skin rash caused by tiny mites that burrow into the skin, resulting in itching. While it is usually treatable with a cream or lotion and not typically serious, it can be incredibly uncomfortable.
In addition to the scabies cases, there were 15 hospitalizations for whooping cough and around 15 visits for measles at the trust during the specified period. Whooping cough is a highly contagious respiratory infection, while measles typically starts with cold-like symptoms and progresses to a rash, potentially leading to severe complications if it spreads to the lungs or brain.
The data is based on clinical diagnoses made in A&E, and the actual figures may vary slightly following patients’ sample testing. Across England, visits that ultimately resulted in a measles diagnosis saw a five-fold increase to 2,305 visits in the previous year. This marked the largest increase among conditions with at least 1,000 hospitalizations nationwide.
Furthermore, last year witnessed a threefold rise in whooping cough diagnoses in A&E, totaling 1,696 cases. Meanwhile, scabies cases saw a 66% increase, with 5,661 primary and secondary diagnoses. Gwen Nightingale, assistant director of Healthy Lives at the Health Foundation, highlighted poverty as a contributing factor to the spread of these diseases.
Nightingale emphasized that insufficient income to maintain a basic standard of living can negatively impact health, citing factors like living in cold, damp homes or lacking access to healthy foods. The stress associated with living on a low income can also have adverse effects on health. She urged the government to ensure that individuals have an adequate income, access to good-quality affordable housing, and green spaces to mitigate the spread of these diseases.
The UK Health Service Authority expressed concern that the rise in measles hospitalizations could be indicative of declining vaccination rates. A spokesperson noted that many children are missing out on protection against various serious diseases, including whooping cough, meningitis, diphtheria, and polio, which are easily preventable through vaccination. It is distressing to see children suffer from these diseases when effective preventive measures are available.