"We want to break the taboo around scabies and raise awareness among students"
Scabies has become increasingly common in Amsterdam in recent years. Especially the cold winter months, when people spend more time indoors, often cause a peak in the number of outbreaks. That is why the GGD decided to hand out free PCR tests to students at different moments this winter.
Scabies: for many students it is the ultimate nightmare. The skin condition, which is caused by different types of mites, causes swelling, peeling of the skin and intense itchiness. Especially among students, the highly contagious condition has become increasingly common in recent years. Since 2021, the GGD has observed an increase in the number of infections in Amsterdam. As this is not tracked at the RIVM, no precise figures are known, but in 2022, there was four times as many people with scabies compared to the year before. According to Amsterdam GPs, the problem is growing because students with scabies are ashamed, and therefore do not always dare to report it.
To raise awareness about scabies among students, the GGD handed out free PCR tests at various moments on student campus Uilenstede this winter. Scabies nurse of the GGD Lisette Smit: "We went to the campus with a cargo bike as a stall to hand out some tests, but we think it is especially important to make students aware. We want to break the taboo around scabies."
Shame
Because there still seems to be a lot of shame around the issue. "We often see that people only report to us when they have been walking around with scabies for a long time," Smit says. "It then goes around in student houses, where not everyone dares to tell each other they have it when they have been in contact with each other." In general, the number of infections increases significantly in the winter months. "People live closer together at this time of year, therefore we often see a peak in winter," Smit explains.
So scabies outbreaks are most common in places where a large group of people live close together, such as student houses. "But it is also often hard to get rid of at asylum centres and nurseries," Smit says. So now the GGD is handing out free PCR tests. "GPs often start treatment quickly when something looks like scabies. As a result, there is a high overtreatment rate. With the naked eye, it is simply difficult to observe whether it is scabies or not," Smit said.
"Normally, a PCR test costs 90 euros, which is paid out of the deductible. As a result, these tests are still quite little used now. To remove that barrier, we have now handed out some free copies," she explains. According to Smit, the GGD staff received good responses from students who came to Uilenstede to check their stall. "The people we spoke to were happy that we were there, and that they were seen. We were also able to really take a look at their skin ourselves, which allowed us to take some worries and doubts away from those students."
