Mysterious itching cases more than double in a week in Pernambuco

The number of cases of lesions that cause itchy skin more than doubled in Pernambuco in one week, according to data reported by the municipalities.

The outbreak has caused concern among health professionals, as the cause has not yet been detected. Patients report skin lesions, mainly on the trunk and arms, accompanied by itching.

Over the weekend, the state reached 427 cases, according to information released by city halls. On Tuesday of last week (23), in comparison, there were 185 cases.

The Department of Health of Pernambuco, however, counts for the time being a smaller amount, 264. Due to the procedures for notification, the number compiled by the state tends to be lower than the sum of the total informed by the municipal administrations.

The outbreak — a concept used in health to refer to the rapid spread of a disease in a given region — was concentrated last week in three cities in Greater Recife, while it is now spreading to 13 municipalities in Pernambuco, including Zona da Mata.

In the midst of expansion, Recife faces the largest number of lesions that cause itchy skin. In the capital of Pernambuco, there are 185 cases.

The occurrences in Recife are distributed among 39 districts, but they are predominant between Dois Irmãos and Guabiraba, in the northern zone.

This week, the monitoring and investigation procedures continue, through the application of questionnaires in the places of greatest incidence and the performance of new clinical and laboratory tests.

This work is now supported by a team of dermatologists. Another front is the installation of traps to capture mosquitoes, says the city hall, in a note.

The Recife Department of Health asked that “people not self-medicate, keep their hands sanitized and seek a health unit to receive guidance and treat the symptoms”.

The first cases emerged in early October in the region, but intensified late last month and early this month. There is no record of serious cases associated with itching in Pernambuco so far.

The guidance in the state is that health professionals notify suspected cases within 24 hours. From there, they should be investigated by the Health Department of Pernambuco in partnership with the municipalities, in search of a possible conclusion about the origin of the outbreak.

The main hypotheses, as found by the sheet, are human scabies, allergy, or a type of mosquito-caused arbovirus. There is still no conclusion of the findings.

A technical note from the Pernambuco Health Department, dated November 19, rules out a possible outbreak of foodborne illnesses.

On Friday (26), an article produced by researchers at Ufal (Federal University of Alagoas) raises the hypothesis that the alleged outbreak of scabies is linked to the indiscriminate use of ivermectin.

The dewormer, also used in the treatment of scabies and lice, is one of the medicines that integrate the so-called “covid kit”, with no proven efficacy in combating Covid-19 and which reached a high in sales of 1.272% in a year and a half to the pandemic.