Unit of Medical Entomology and Vector Control, Department of Environmental Health Sciences and Technology, College of Public Health & Medical Sciences, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia,
Parasitol Res. 2013 Oct;112(10):3635-43. doi: 10.1007/s00436-013-3551-8. Epub 2013 Aug 15.
Tungiasis (sand flea disease) is an ectoparasitic skin disease caused by the female sand flea/jigger flea (Tunga penetrans). As poverty is the major driving force of the disease, it can be called as a poverty-associated plague. It is one of the emerging neglected diseases in Latin America, Caribbean, sub-Saharan Africa, and India. The aim of the present scrutiny was to assess the public health impact of tungiasis, associated risk factors, and emerging opportunities to prevent and control tungiasis. Searches of PubMed, Google Scholar, and online search engines (Google, AOL, and Yahoo) using keywords "parasitic skin disease," "tungiasis," "sand flea," " tungiasis-associated risk factors," "tungiasis prevention and control," and their synonyms were used as a source of references. Searches were made without time limitations. Of 167 potential articles identified by these criteria, 51 appropriate were selected for review. Tungiasis is widespread in the resource-constrained settings of low-income economies. In the tropics, it is highly prevalent among the impoverished populations, but the associated risk factors are often poorly identified and remain uncontrolled. Though it is a self-limiting disease with considerable morbidity, the parasite may cause subsequent secondary morbidity through life-threatening complications and infections like cellulitis, tetanus, and death. However, the direct and indirect sociocultural, economic, and health impact of tungiasis is often undervalued and misunderstood. A systematic assessment on disease burden is still dearth and deficient. Over the decades, tungiasis has been largely neglected by the scientific community, policy makers, and healthcare stakeholders. In the endemic regions, even tungiasis is not listed for the disease control priorities in the regional, national, and international agenda. The majority of the epidermal parasitic skin diseases particularly tungiasis needs a sustainable global scientific research and control policy. This urges intensive efforts to develop a road map that delivers a clear vision towards zero new infection by designing low-cost prevention and control strategies. Besides, there is an urgency to develop culturally appropriate communication techniques and workable collaboration on a global scale by bringing all the stakeholders of endemic countries.
疥疮（沙蚤病）是一种由雌性沙蚤/跳骚（Tunga penetrans）引起的寄生虫性皮肤病。由于贫困是该病的主要驱动因素，因此可将其称为与贫困相关的瘟疫。它是拉丁美洲、加勒比地区、撒哈拉以南非洲和印度新出现的被忽视疾病之一。本研究旨在评估疥疮的公共卫生影响、相关危险因素以及预防和控制疥疮的新机遇。使用关键词“寄生虫性皮肤病”、“疥疮”、“沙蚤”、“疥疮相关危险因素”、“疥疮预防和控制”及其同义词在 PubMed、Google Scholar 和在线搜索引擎（Google、AOL 和 Yahoo）上进行搜索，作为参考文献的来源。搜索没有时间限制。通过这些标准确定了 167 篇潜在文章，其中 51 篇文章适合进行综述。疥疮在资源有限的低收入经济体中广泛存在。在热带地区，它在贫困人群中高度流行，但相关的危险因素往往识别不清，且得不到控制。尽管它是一种具有相当发病率的自限性疾病，但寄生虫可能会通过危及生命的并发症和感染（如蜂窝织炎、破伤风和死亡）导致随后的继发性发病率。然而，疥疮的直接和间接社会文化、经济和健康影响往往被低估和误解。疾病负担的系统评估仍然缺乏。几十年来，科学界、政策制定者和医疗保健利益相关者在很大程度上忽视了疥疮。在流行地区，甚至疥疮也未列入区域、国家和国际议程的疾病控制重点。大多数表皮寄生虫性皮肤病，特别是疥疮，需要可持续的全球科学研究和控制政策。这需要加紧努力制定路线图，通过设计低成本的预防和控制策略，为零新感染提供明确的愿景。此外，还需要紧急制定文化上适当的沟通技巧，并在全球范围内开展可行的合作，让所有流行国家的利益攸关方都参与进来。
