The assessment of epidemiologic aspects of scabies in Iran’s Army during 2004 to 2010

Purpose: Scabies is a parasitic disease with nocturnal itching and cutaneous lesions. It spreads by physical contact and it occurs mostly in crowded places. Because of their occupation, military personnel have to live in garrisons and camps. So the prevalence of scabies is higher in military systems. Hence, this study evaluated the epidemiology of scabies in Iran’s Army. Materials and Methods: This retrospective research studied the cumulative incidence rate of scabies in Iran’s Army during years 2004-2010. The data were gathered from Preventive Medicine Department of AJA University of Medical Sciences. Any military person with confirmed diagnosis of scabies by the center physician was included in the study. Results: In this 7-year study total number of reported scabies was 5277 cases. Most of them had occurred in spring and summer. More than 50% were from Hormozgan province. Guilan and Mazandaran provinces were in the second and third stand. The least were from Lorestan, Hamedan, West Azerbaijan and Zanjan provinces. About 62% of cases belonged to Navy. Conclusion: Although the overall trend of scabies in Iran’s Army has been declining in recent years, it is still a common problem in warm and humid provinces and among Navy personnel. Since scabies is a reliable indicator of public health status, it seems that there is a need for more healthcare facilities and more resource allocation particularly in warm seasons of the year to reduce this disease among the military personnel.