The normalisation of scabies and impetigo: a cross-sectional comparative study of hospitalised children in northern Australia assessing clinical recognition and treatment of skin disease

The complication of scabies and Impetigo remain a significant health problem globally. This Is despite the availability of tolerable and efficacious treatments. We conducted a comparative cross-sectional study to examine the clinical recognition of skin infections in hospitalised children in north-western Australia; hypothesising that clinician under-recognition leads to under­ treatment. Children in our prospective assessment were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with (53.2% vs 22.1%;OR 4.0 95%CI[2.2-7.5]) and receive treatment for (39.2% vs 15.6%; OR 3.5 95% Cl[1.8-7.0)) skin Infections compared with those in the retrospective medical record review; confirming our hypothesis that skin infections are under-recognised and under-treated in this setting.