Malaga dermatologist leads global fight against scabies

At just 34 years of age, Dr Iñigo Navarro from Malaga has become the head of the International Alliance for the Control of Scabies (IACS) and the leading expert in the fight against this dermatological disease.

IACS is a global network of experts, researchers and health professionals who work on developing standardised diagnostic criteria that facilitate scabies detection in remote communities and promoting the mass administration of medication to drastically reduce the presence of the mite that causes the disease in endemic areas.

Scabies affects millions of people worldwide, especially in resource-poor settings. Founded in 2012, the organisation was instrumental in getting the World Health Organization (WHO) to officially recognise scabies as a neglected tropical disease (NTD), raising investment in international research.

Dr Navarro will lead this prestigious organisation for three years. SUR interviews him to learn more about his goals and the disease.

"Scabies is a contagious skin disease caused by a mite: we're talking about the human variety, which is transmitted between humans and, above all, causes a rash that produces intense itching," Dr Navarro says.

Despite popular belief that the disease is linked to developing countries, its presence in Europe has been growing over the past decade.

"There are theories that this is due to climate change, migration flows, the way people have been interacting since Covid-19, more people sharing flats," Dr Navarro states, adding an unproven hypothesis that "scabies may be becoming resistant to conventional treatments".

The basic treatment consists of a cream and pills. "It's a bit cumbersome to do: according to guidelines, it involves taking some pills and applying a cream all over the body, except for the face, and then repeating the treatment throughout the week. Both the person with scabies and everyone living with them must do it," he explains.

Patients must also take specific disinfection measures that involve clothing and other areas of life.

Dr Navarro says that scabies is transmitted by "direct and close contact, in families and between partners". For the disease to be contagious, contact has to be longer than 15 to 20 minutes.

"It's not a serious disease in our area because it's treatable and curable, but in more disadvantaged areas, where many people have scabies and perhaps don't have as much access to medication, it can have serious long-term consequences: scabies sores can become infected. Furthermore, an immune response to these infections can develop, which can lead to significant kidney and even heart problems in the long run," Dr Navarro says.

From his new position, Dr Navarro hopes to make progress in the global control of scabies. "Guidelines are being developed to address areas where scabies has a very high prevalence and where the entire population is treated, instead of just treating individual cases, because that ultimately leads nowhere," he says.

According to this expert, investment has increased and researchers share findings on a global scale. Dr Navarro's goal is to "find out why scabies is on the rise in Europe". Rises have also been observed in Malaga and Andalucía, although the exact number of cases is unknown.

Dr Navarrо's interest in scabies started with the Dermalawi project in response to a scabies epidemic in Malawi. "I became a dermatologist because it combines the medical and the surgical. It is a fairly global speciality," he says.

Despite his young age, Dr Navarro has already worked in several places, all the while specialising as a leading dermatologist. He currently works at the Doctor José Molina Orosa University Hospital in Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands.