'Scabies bomb' has been giving UT students sleepless nights for years

'You could easily call it a scabies bomb,' describes Nathalie Christenhusz, social nurse at GGD Twente. 'Last year, we tried to raise the issue among students by handing out flyers with playful slogans, but little seems to have changed.' Fighting the itchy skin infection seems easier said than done.

Intensive physical contact

Christenhusz mentions 'intensive physical contact' as one of the main causes. 'In the student houses, students are cooped up closely together, especially in the winter months.' Sexual contact also easily leads to infection. But the cause may be more simple: Especially female students sometimes borrow each other's clothes for a night out.' Concerts or other occasions in which the audience literally rubs shoulders for more than fifteen minutes can also be a source of infection. 'And if they visit other student cities or family, it can quickly spread throughout the rest of the country.'

Master's student of Business Administration Steven Oosterkamp — as of yet uninfected himself — experienced it up close in his student house. He describes how easily it spreads. "We sometimes share a small house with more than fifteen people. You can get it simply by sitting on the couch or chair where an infected person has been sitting. It’s almost unavoidable, in other words. It's even become part of student life.'

Difficult measures

In the event of an outbreak, it is important that the entire student house is aware of it and adheres to the hygiene measures, says the GGD. The treatment can consist of applying ointment, whether or not supplemented with a pill treatment, in combination with a step-by-step laundry plan for clothing and other textiles.

But the prescribed ointment, which has to be applied all over the body, is a considerable expense for the average student. 'Treatment with ointment can easily cost up to about fifty euros. And long-term use can have unpleasant side effects for the skin,' says Oosterkamp.

Because of the stigma surrounding the infection, many students continue their daily lives without reporting it, giving it ample opportunity to spread. 'There is a lot of shame involved'.

Then there is the wardrobe problem. Contaminated clothing must be stored in a hermetically sealed bin bag for three days to kill the mite. 'At some point you run out of clothes,' says Oosterkamp. The washing advice for clothing also proves challenging. 'A lot of clothing is not suitable for the prescribed sixty degrees wash.'

Study performance at risk

The impact of the infection on daily life is significant. Oosterkamp: 'People can't sleep because of the itching. Some avoid public places for fear of infecting others, such as the library or the lecture halls. In addition to the emotional aspect of knowing that you have scabies, it can have a significant impact on your study performance.'

Christenhusz both literally and metaphorically confirms: 'It's gets under your skin.'

PCR Tests

At the UvA, where scabies also turned out to be a problem, PCR tests were distributed. According to Christenhusz, this does not offer a clear solution. 'A PCR test only detects the presence of genetic material from the Sarcoptes scabiei mite, which causes scabies. That says nothing about someone’s contagiousness at that moment. We strongly advise students to follow the measures on our website .'