The tiny parasitic scabies mite causes a furious itch, and life-threatening infections if left untreated. It is currently challenging to diagnose, but a new tool developed by Northern Territory researchers and a Melbourne MedTech firm hopes to change that.
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00:00It wasn't the COVID-19 lockdowns that first taught Blake's Melbourne sharehouse to socially
00:08distance but the microscopic scabies mite.
00:11I had itches like in between the fingers on my hands and like it would just like it would
00:17feel like because you can't really itch them because it feels like you're just gonna make
00:20it worse but it just is like so uncomfortable.
00:23It hitched a ride on his housemate and infested the rest of the household taking weeks of
00:29cleaning and self-isolating to eliminate.
00:32It was scary like that feeling of just like not knowing what the next steps were not knowing
00:37where to go from there.
00:38The microscopic parasite can be treated but poverty, overcrowding and poor access to health
00:44care mean the mite often spreads undetected for longer and in places like the remote Northern
00:50Territory it can cause potentially fatal disease.
00:55Kids who grow up getting exposed to strep infections multiple times during their childhood
01:00and the scabies is part of that.
01:02So if you're getting scabies a lot and you're scratching away and you're getting lots of
01:05skin infections it really increases your risk of getting rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart
01:10disease.
01:11Dr Francis is one of several NT doctors set to trial a new skin swab to test the scabies
01:17DNA and related infections.
01:19The Melbourne lab developing the test hopes to make faster more accurate diagnoses.
01:25With the current method of diagnosis patients will have to wait days to weeks to receive
01:31their results.
01:32A promising tool for facilities which have experienced outbreaks.
01:36Having an ability to clarify that yes this person has been infested with the scabies
01:43mite within the eight weeks would have allowed us to offer the treatment sooner.
01:48Offering hope to those who've lived it.
01:50Knowing what's happening with your body is one of the most powerful things you can have.