Scabies and bacterial skin infections at a molecular level

Abstract

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are nearly 20 times more likely to die from acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) than individuals from the wider Australian community. ARF and RHD as well as high rates of renal disease have been clearly linked to scabies infestations as the major driving force of streptococcal pyoderma in children of Indigenous communities, underlying 50 to 70% of all skin infections. In addition, patients are facing mite resistance against current anti-scabetic therapeutics. Community-based initiatives have been recently expanding and today form the major existing body of knowledge surrounding scabies. Critical biological questions, however, remain unanswered, due to the lack of biomedical research in the area. In the context of the current failure to overcome the social dimensions of Indigenous health issues, molecular approaches that have only now become possible may well lead to vaccines or other clinical interventions and hence to an improvement of the situation.