{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,26]],"date-time":"2026-10-26T12:51:42Z","timestamp":1793019102684,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,9]],"date-time":"2025-04-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1744156800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosglobalpublichealth.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLOS Glob Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Scabies is a dermatological parasitic infestation prevalent in many regions worldwide. Classified as a neglected disease by World Health Organization (WHO) since 2017, it is often associated with poor living conditions and overcrowding. Towards the end of 2021, unusual high numbers of scabies cases in outpatient consultations were observed in two M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res\u2019 (MSF) Primary Healthcare Centers (PHCs) in Rohingya refugee camps in Cox\u2019s Bazar, Bangladesh. Here, we aimed to describe the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of patients with scabies consulting the clinics from July 2022\u2013November 2023. A cross-sectional study using routinely collected data from scabies\u2019 consultations at two MSF clinics located in camp 14 and 15 (total population 91,241 in 2023) was conducted. We retrospectively analyzed programmatic data of patients of all ages attending outpatient consultations and clinically diagnosed as scabies. Data were extracted from MSF clinical routine monitoring databases and descriptive statistics were reported. During the 16-month period, a total of 178,922 scabies consultations were recorded, amongst whom 57.7% were women and 42.3% men. Children &lt;5 years constituted 20.5% of the cases, age-groups 6-14, 36.6%, and \u226515 years, 42.9%. Camp 15 had the highest number of cases (39.4%), followed by other camps (29.7%), and then camp 14 (24.4%). Most cases were simple scabies (79.5%); one in five were scabies with secondary infection cases. Patients were mainly treated with oral ivermectin (71.2%) and topical permethrin (24.3%); 19.5% of patients also received antibiotics. Our findings indicate that scabies is a significant health concern in the Cox\u2019s Bazar refugee camp. This study recorded over 178000 cases in the above period. The scale of this outbreak warrants further actions, including a prevalence survey, quality implementation of mass drug administration, and multidisciplinary interventions related to camps\u2019 living conditions such as water and sanitation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pgph.0003981","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,9]],"date-time":"2025-04-09T13:26:00Z","timestamp":1744205160000},"page":"e0003981","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pgph.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":13,"title":["High caseload of Scabies amongst Rohingya refugees in Cox\u2019s Bazar, Bangladesh: A retrospective analysis of the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of cases, July 2022 to November 2023"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"5","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9147-189X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Bahaa Aldin","family":"Alhaffar","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Soriful","family":"Islam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mohammad Injamul","family":"Hoq","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Asish","family":"Das","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shakil Mohammed","family":"Shibloo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mahmudul","family":"Hasan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kamar Uddin","family":"Muzakkir","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kawser","family":"Mahmud","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Trine Grondahl","family":"Petersen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Karsten","family":"Noko","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-3073-8978","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Pankaj","family":"Paul","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Srijeeth S.","family":"Nair","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yves","family":"Wailly","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marta","family":"Miazek","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Letizia","family":"di Stefano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Michel","family":"van Herp","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lekha","family":"Rathod","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Amrish","family":"Baidjoe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0369-8830","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Temmy","family":"Sunyoto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"pgph.0003981.ref001","article-title":"Scabies.","author":"WHO"},{"key":"pgph.0003981.ref002","author":"CDC. 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2 Years of Follow-up","volume":"381","author":"L Romani","year":"2019","journal-title":"N Engl J Med"},{"issue":"10","key":"pgph.0003981.ref040","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e1132","DOI":"10.1016\/S2214-109X(18)30397-8","article-title":"Feasibility and safety of mass drug coadministration with azithromycin and ivermectin for the control of neglected tropical diseases: a single-arm intervention trial","volume":"6","author":"L Romani","year":"2018","journal-title":"Lancet Glob Health"},{"issue":"6","key":"pgph.0003981.ref041","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"959","DOI":"10.1093\/cid\/ciac042","article-title":"Mass Drug Administration for the Control of Scabies: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis","volume":"75","author":"SJ Lake","year":"2022","journal-title":"Clin Infect Dis"},{"issue":"6.1","key":"pgph.0003981.ref042","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"78S-85S","DOI":"10.3855\/jidc.11892","article-title":"Does mass drug administration for community-based scabies control works? The experience in Ethiopia","volume":"14","author":"W Enbiale","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Infect Dev Ctries"},{"issue":"6.1","key":"pgph.0003981.ref043","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"28S-35S","DOI":"10.3855\/jidc.11701","article-title":"\u201cStopping the itch\u201d: mass drug administration for scabies outbreak control covered for over nine million people in Ethiopia","volume":"14","author":"W Enbiale","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Infect Dev Ctries"},{"key":"pgph.0003981.ref044","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100220","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jmh.2024.100220","article-title":"Prevalence of scabies and its associated environmental risk factors among the Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals living in the Cox\u2019s Bazar district of Bangladesh","volume":"9","author":"MS Rahman","year":"2024","journal-title":"J Migr Health"},{"key":"pgph.0003981.ref045","article-title":"WHO implements large-scale Ivermectin-based MDA for one million Rohingya refugees","author":"WHO","year":"2024"}],"container-title":["PLOS Global Public Health"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pgph.0003981","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,9]],"date-time":"2025-04-09T13:26:11Z","timestamp":1744205171000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pgph.0003981"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Andr\u00e9s F.","family":"Henao-Mart\u00ednez,","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"editor"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,9]]},"references-count":45,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,9]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pgph.0003981","relation":{},"ISSN":["2767-3375"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2767-3375","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,9]]}}}