Scabies in children: modern features of epidemiology, clinical presentation and diagnosis

The article is devoted to one of the most common parasitic infections in children - scabies. Diversity of the clinical presentations, tendency to the quick progression of secondary infection of rashes and other serious complications make the clinical diagnosis more difficult to establish. This review summarizes the data from the analysis of available sources devoted to the study of modern clinical and epidemiological features and methods for diagnosing scabies in children. An analysis of epidemiological trends and risk factors leading to a global increase in scabies incidence among children was carried out. The recent years featured a growth of cases of a disease in children under two years of age. The article presents the results of scientific researches devoted to the study of the pathogenesis and morphology of the disease, which explain the development of clinical forms and complications of scabies. The current methods for diagnosing the disease, as well as their integration into the International Alliance for the Control of Scabies (IACS) Criteria are analysed. Dermatoscopy has obvious advantages over traditional microscopy. The method is non-invasive and well tolerated by patients, especially children, and makes it possible to acquire data within a few minutes, which takes much less time than ex vivo microscopic examination. The article presents data from domestic scientists' researches on the non-invasive diagnosis of scabies. Despite the development and implementation of new diagnostic methods, scabies often remains unrecognized, which affects the outcomes of therapy. The increasing numbers of patients suffering from scabies require prompt and interdisciplinary interaction of health professionals, especially in the regions where constant migration of the population and low social standards of living are observed. In parallel with efforts to standardize and improve diagnosis using the current methods, the issue of developing additional scabies diagnostic tests remains pressing. The 2020 IACS criteria can be used as a reference standard for research into new diagnostic tools.