Hygienic aspects of scabies prevention: public awareness and new approaches to reducing incidence

BACKGROUND: Scabies is a highly contagious parasitic disease, and early diagnosis and timely treatment prevent further spread within affected populations. Severe cases of scabies observed by dermatovenereologists indicate late medical consultation, which is often due to insufficient health literacy among the population. Assessing the awareness of different population groups regarding the clinical manifestations of scabies and preventive measures can help develop a program for in-depth group preventive counseling within the “Healthy Skin” school, aimed at improving health knowledge among the public and healthcare personnel to reduce scabies incidence. AIM: The work aimed to analyze the awareness of various population groups regarding scabies and its preventive measures. METHODS: It was a cross-sectional observational study. An online questionnaire developed by the authors from the Russian National Research Medical University named after N.I. Pirogov was used. The study was performed from 2024 to 2025. A total of 517 respondents participated, including 182 schoolchildren (mean age 15 years), 113 students from non-medical universities (mean age 19 years), and 222 adults not employed in healthcare (mean age 40 years). The study was carried out at the Russian National Research Medical University named after N.I. Pirogov, the Federal Center of Brain Research and Neurotechnologies of the Federal Medical-Biological Agency, and Children’s City Polyclinic No. 118 (Moscow, Russia). Standard statistical analyses were performed using Statistica 10.0 (StatSoft, USA) and MS Excel 2016. RESULTS: Most respondents were aware that itching is a symptom of scabies; however, only 32.4% of schoolchildren, 37.2% of students, and 32% of the working population were aware of other disease manifestations, such as rash and burrows. Twenty percent of respondents were insufficiently informed about scabies prevention and skin care. The majority of respondents (79.1% of schoolchildren, 82.3% of students, 82.9% of working adults) reported that healthcare professionals were their main source of health information. The second most common source was the Internet, cited by 65.9% of schoolchildren, 58.4% of students, and 61.3% of working adults. CONCLUSION: The survey revealed insufficient awareness of the clinical manifestations of scabies and preventive measures among different population groups. Healthcare professionals and the Internet were considered the most reliable sources of information on skin diseases.