BADIN, Dec 26: Cases of scabies among adult and children, are on the rise in the rural areas mostly in the coastal belt and in several localities of Badin district headquarter city with a number of patients visiting OPDs of government healthcare centres, private hospitals and dispensaries in the district.

Around 100 to 200 patients are reportedly visiting Badin hospitals for itch mite treatment daily. It is apprehended that vast population of the district could be infected with this parasite of globular arthropod if serious measures are not taken to control this epidemic.

Shabbir Ahmed Khan of Bhurgari mohalla said that all his family members had been infected with this disease. He said that Rs500 were needed for each family member for the treatment of the disease.

A physician, Dr Mohammad Khatti, said that private hospitals were registering more cases of scabies and other skin diseases, which was an alarming situation. He said that care and medicines should be taken properly, else the disease could reverse back in the body.

He said that beds and clothing should be kept clean and be changed time and again after taking doses of medicines.Dr Saima Bhurgari said that scabies was caused by sareoptes scabiel an extremely small globular arthropod and the species of the genus sarcoptes also infest animals but it was quite distinct physiologically hence animal scabies cannot flourish on human skin.

She said that itch mite exploded with four steps first it lays eggs in the burrow and the single female laid up to 40 eggs at the rate of two to three per day and later died in the end of the burrows, while the life cycle from egg to adult, the last stage of adult mite stay on body for one to two months if remedial measures were not followed strictly.

She said that scabies could usually transferred by close contact with an infected person.