Ramallah – Ma’an – The disease Scabies has recently spread widely among the ranks of prisoners in all occupation prisons.

This came as a result of a number of punitive measures imposed by the prison administration on prisoners since the seventh of last October, which included the most basic natural rights of any human being, including preventing showering and cutting off water, withdrawing all personal hygiene supplies such as soap, shampoo, and toothpaste, and not allowing prisoners to shave or cut their hair. In addition, they are deprived of the possession of clothes and underwear, except for the clothes they wear, as the prisoner is forced to wash them and wait for them to dry or wear them while they are wet.

The condition of the rooms is also very bad, as there is no proper ventilation, and insects are widespread due to lack of cleanliness, and the prisoners have been deprived of all forms of cleaning materials. In addition to the above, the bodies of the prisoners are not exposed to the sun and air du
e to being deprived of the freedom or reducing it for a very short period of time. All of these factors led to the spread of the mites that cause scabies.

The Commission for the Affairs of Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners stressed the importance of pressuring the prison administration to stop this systematic escalation aimed at slowly killing prisoners, and the necessity of the Red Cross and all local and international humanitarian institutions intervening to protect our prisoners to prevent these medical crimes and the deliberate neglect of treating prisoners and depriving them of their most basic human rights at all levels.

In this context, the Prisoners’ Authority clarified the definition of the disease, its symptoms and complications:

What is scabies?

Scabies is a skin disease characterized by severe itching caused by a group of parasites called mites. It is a contagious disease and can spread quickly through close contact.

Symptoms of scabies:

1. The most prominent symptom of scabies is severe itching of
the skin, which becomes more severe at night.

2. Wavy tracks consisting of small pimples or bumps on the skin.

Causes and risk factors for scabies:

Sarcoptes scabies parasites are spread by direct contact with an infected person. Scabies may also be spread by using personal items, such as a towel or bed sheet, of an infected person.

Complications:

– Severe itching can cause the skin to crack and may cause an infection such as impetigo, an infection of the skin surface caused by coccus bacteria (staphylococcus) often or streptococcus bacteria (streptococcus) sometimes.

A more severe type of scabies – called crusted scabies – can also affect some people. Crusty scabies causes crusts and scales to appear on the skin, and affects large areas of the body. It is a very contagious condition and may be difficult to treat. It must be treated quickly with prescription pills and skin creams.

The body of a person infected with scabies usually contains 10 or 15 mites. As for a person with scabies, his body may cont
ain millions of mites. However, it may not be accompanied by itching or the itching may be mild.

Scabies treatment:

1. Scabies must be treated, as it does not go away without treatment. Treatment is done by applying an appropriate ointment or emulsion based on the treating physician’s prescription, or in some severe cases, the doctor may prescribe some medications to be taken to treat scabies based on the patient’s condition.

2. When a person is infected with scabies, he and all the people who live with him should be treated, in order to prevent the transmission of the parasites that cause the disease from one person to another. It is important to be careful to wash clothes, towels, and bed covers.

3. Wash all clothes and bedding at high heat and expose them to the sun to kill mites and their eggs.

4. Clean furniture, carpets, and floors, to remove crusts that contain the mites that cause scabies.

Source: Maan News Agency