The number of people infected with scabies is increasing in North Macedonia

 

 During the month of March of this year, 32 cases of scabies infection have been registered in North Macedonia.

The Public Health Institute reports that the highest number of infected individuals are in Skopje and Kumanovo, but they add that despite the concentration in these two areas, there is no reason to panic regarding the outbreak, media say.

"During the period from the beginning of this year until the end of March, we have had 70 cases of scabies infection, and only in March, almost half of the number of cases of infection, which are concentrated in Skopje and Kumanovo, were registered."

"Every year we have about 100 cases of scabies infection, and this number does not imply any risk from the pandemic," says Shaban Memeti, director of the Public Health Institute, to Radio Free Europe.

However, dermatologist Dejan Filipoviq from the University Clinic in Skopje tells Radio Free Europe that a considerable number of citizens do not seek medical help, thinking that it is an allergy, and therefore such cases remain unregistered.

"Every day, one or two patients with scabies infection come to us, but this number is still higher because the majority of the population in the country thinks that this disease has been eradicated and that they cannot be infected. They think it's an allergy, which causes skin itching," says Filipoviq.