Walker Georgia R, Lake Susanna J, Parnaby Matthew G, Reneteaud Tereva, Mapotoeke Mihiau, Marmorat Romain P, White Raihei H, Andersson Sarah, Kaldor John M, Segalin Jean-Marc, Mallet Henri-Pierre, Steer Andrew C, Wattiaux Andre L
Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia.
Office of Health Surveillance and Response, Agence de Régulation de l'Action Sanitaire et Sociale (Regulatory Agency for Health and Social Action), Papeete, French Polynesia.
PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2025 Jun 9;19(6):e0013119. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0013119. eCollection 2025 Jun.
The prevalence of scabies and impetigo is high in several Pacific Island countries and has led to the implementation of mass drug administration control strategies. Anecdotal clinical reports have suggested similarly high burdens of scabies and bacterial skin infection in French Polynesia, but formal prevalence data have been lacking. We aimed to determine the prevalence of scabies and bacterial skin infection in French Polynesia's two most populated islands: Tahiti and Mo'orea.
We conducted a community-based cross-sectional survey. Our study was pragmatically restricted to the main islands of Tahiti and Mo'orea, where we selected households using two-stage randomisation from 20 first-stage neighbourhoods. All individuals present in the home were invited to participate. Four nurses and one doctor conducted skin examinations using validated simplified diagnostic criteria to diagnose scabies, informed by the International Alliance for the Control of Scabies 2020 diagnostic criteria.
Among 1770 participants, scabies prevalence was 11.9% and was highest among children aged <5 years (31.8%, RR 5.7, 95% CI 3.8 - 8.6, compared to ≥55 years). The overall bacterial skin infection prevalence was 5.5%. Participants with scabies had a 10-fold higher risk of bacterial skin infection compared to those without (26.8% vs 2.7%, RR 10.2, 95% CI 7.5-13.8). Written consent was obtained for all 1770 participants.
The prevalence of scabies in this study exceeds 10%, the threshold above which evidence-based public health strategies including mass drug administration (treatment of the entire community, regardless of whether they show evidence of the disease) may be considered.
疥疮和脓疱病在几个太平洋岛国的患病率很高，这促使人们实施了群体药物管理控制策略。有临床报告称法属波利尼西亚的疥疮和细菌性皮肤感染负担同样很高，但缺乏正式的患病率数据。我们旨在确定法属波利尼西亚人口最多的两个岛屿——塔希提岛和莫雷阿岛——的疥疮和细菌性皮肤感染患病率。
我们开展了一项基于社区的横断面调查。本研究实际局限于塔希提岛和莫雷阿岛这两个主要岛屿，我们从20个第一阶段的社区中通过两阶段随机抽样选取家庭。邀请家中所有在场人员参与。四名护士和一名医生依据国际疥疮控制联盟2020年诊断标准，使用经过验证的简化诊断标准进行皮肤检查以诊断疥疮。
在1770名参与者中，疥疮患病率为11.9%，在5岁以下儿童中最高（31.8%，相对危险度5.7，95%可信区间3.8 - 8.6，与≥55岁人群相比）。细菌性皮肤感染总体患病率为5.5%。与未患疥疮者相比，患疥疮者发生细菌性皮肤感染的风险高出10倍（26.8%对2.7%，相对危险度10.2，95%可信区间7.5 - 13.8）。1770名参与者均获得了书面同意。
本研究中疥疮患病率超过10%，超过这一阈值时，可能会考虑包括群体药物管理（对整个社区进行治疗，无论其是否有疾病证据）在内的循证公共卫生策略。
