Scabies or also known as scabies is a parasitic infection of the skin caused by the Sarcoptes scabiei mite. People who have scabies will feel very itchy on their skin. Untreated scabies can cause a decrease in quality of life, by making it difficult for a person to concentrate, experience sleep disturbances, and potentially experience other skin infections.
A high prevalence of scabies is generally found in environments with a high density of occupants in a room, such as students’ rooms in Islamic boarding schools. The crowded boarding school environment and lack of awareness of cleanliness in the boarding school environment can certainly trigger skin-related diseases such as scabies.
A survey conducted by the Community Service Team (Pengmas) of the Faculty of Medicine (FK) Universitas Indonesia (UI) at one of the Islamic boarding schools in Depok City on August 7th 2023, showed that as many as 54.7% of students were suspected of having experienced or suffered from scabies. This data even exceeds the prevalence data put forward by the World Health Organization (WHO), which states that the prevalence of scabies in children varies from 5% to 50%.
“Based on observations and initial surveys, students generally suffer from itching, some of them have been diagnosed with scabies. The Islamic boarding school environment that is not well maintained in terms of cleanliness and sanitation is one of the causes of frequent skin diseases among students,” said Head of the FKUI Community Service Team, Sasanthy Kusumaningtyas, S.Si., M.Biomed. She explained that to reduce and eradicate the occurrence of skin diseases, students need to be given proper education regarding skin health as well as clean and healthy living habits.
Therefore, Sasanthy, who is also a lecturer from the Anatomy Department, FKUI, said that this Islamic boarding school was chosen as a location for community service. Apart from that, she also said that the location of the Islamic boarding school is close to the UI campus, thus it is hoped that the benefits of this program can be felt directly by the community, in this case the students around the campus area.
This community service activity will be carried out for three months, from August to October 2023. The first activity was carried out on August 11th 2023, which included counseling and skin health checks for 86 students. The counseling material was delivered by three resource persons, namely dr. Rahmadini, M. Biomed and dr. Gamael Marcel from the Department of Anatomy FKUI, and dr. Sri Wahdini, M. Biomed, Sp. Akp from the FKUI Parasitology Department.
The counseling provided was related to basic knowledge of human skin anatomy and knowledge related to scabies which includes information regarding causes, symptoms, transmission methods, treatment methods and prevention methods that are relevant to conditions in Islamic boarding schools. Scabies and the cleanliness of an environment are related to one another. A clean environment minimizes the incidence of scabies in Islamic boarding schools. Conversely, an unclean environment creates a greater chance of scabies incidence. Therefore, the provision of material related to Clean and Healthy LifeStyle (PHBS) is needed to complement counseling efforts at Islamic boarding schools.
PHBS that can be carried out in Islamic boarding schools to prevent scabies include getting used to bathing twice a day using soap, changing clothes every day, drying towels after use, not borrowing personal clothes and tools from other students, sleeping on separate beds, paying attention to ventilation for air circulation and exposure to sunlight, as well as maintaining the cleanliness of the dormitory and its environment.
Afterwards, a skin health examination was also carried out to diagnose scabies. The results of the examination showed that 23.3% of the students were indicated to be suffering from scabies. Diseases caused by other skin parasites were also detected during the examination, namely head lice (Pediculosis capitis) which was experienced by 44.9% of female students. Therefore, apart from scabies medication, the service team also provides additional medication to treat head lice. Monitoring of treatment will be carried out continuously every month.
Sasanthy said that community service activities to eradicate scabies are not enough to carry out by just one treatment, further efforts are needed to ensure the students can be truly free from scabies. “Repression efforts in the form of treatment are incomplete if they are not accompanied by preventive efforts. Therefore, in the next month’s community service program, students will be given counseling regarding Clean and Healthy Living Behavior (PHBS). Health cadres formed from representatives of teachers and students will play an active role in supervising the process of controlling scabies and implementing PHBS in the Islamic boarding school environment,” said Sasanthy.
Together with Sasanthy, the FKUI Community Service Team consists of Dr. Isabella Kurnia Liem, M. Biomed, Ph.D., PA.; Deswaty Furqonita, S.Si., M.Biomed.; Drg. Haamid Hasan Haikal, M.Sc.; Dini Fitriyanti, S.Si., M.Si.; Aldila Amini Nasrul, S.Si.; Amaliatu Rosyidah, S.K.M.; Rafika Bunga Sofia Aruan, S.K.M.; Firda Asma’ul Husna, S.Si, M.Biomed.; and Milya Urfa Ahmad, S.Si.