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Axxin Collaborates on Novel Molecular Diagnostic Test for Scabies Detection
- Emily Sutterby
- Mar 17
- 2 min read
Updated: Jun 6
Find out how Axxin instruments are helping to bring a rapid point-of-care scabies diagnostic test to communities in need in a collaboration with ZiP diagnostics and Menzies School of Health Research.
Scabies, a skin diseased marked by an intense itchy rash, is caused by Sarcoptes scabiei mites burrowing under the skin to lay eggs. This unsettling disease disproportionately impacts resource-poor communities, particularly in hot regions with limited access to clean water sources.[1] Although treatable, when access to healthcare is limited, the disease often avoids detection leaving people vulnerable to potentially life-threatening secondary bacterial infections.
Like many skin diseases, research into scabies is often overlooked with the World Health Organisation (WHO) recognising scabies as a neglected disease. The presence of scabies and its impact on the quality-of-life of afflicted communities is widespread, with approximately 200 million individuals affected and 5.3 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs, a measurement representing years lost to ill-health) estimated in 2021.[2]
As scabies spreads via skin-to-skin contact, population dense environments, such as retirement housing and hospitals, are particularly prone to outbreaks. When coupled with limited access to healthcare, such as the environment faced by First Nations communities in Australia's Northern Territory, scabies is able to thrive, with an estimated prevalence of up to 33% in children living within remote communities.[3]
Timely diagnosis is key to effective treatment and containment of the disease. However, current diagnostic options rely on clinical diagnosis via visual or demoscopy rash identification or sending skin scrapings to a lab for microscopy.[4] These methods are not always reliable, and can result in misdiagnosis or patients waiting days or weeks for a result. This prolonged waiting period allows time for the mites to spread throughout the community, making treatment more difficult.
The proposed skin-swab test presents a world-first scabies diagnostics device at the point-of-care, aiming to deliver results in a fraction of the time of current methods to reduce the spread of outbreaks and improve treatment outcomes.
Watch coverage of the story by the ABC below:
Further reading:
References:
[1] Gupta S, Thornley S, Morris A, Sundborn G, Grant C. Prevalence and determinants of scabies: A global systematic review and meta-analysis. Trop Med Int Health. 2024 Dec;29(12):1006-1017. doi: 10.1111/tmi.14058.
[2] Li J, Liu Z, Xia X. The disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), prevalence and incidence of scabies, 1990-2021: A systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2024 Dec 26;18(12):e0012775. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0012775.
[3] Gramp P, Gramp D. Scabies in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations in Australia: A narrative review. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2021 Sep 30;15(9):e0009751. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0009751.
[4] Al-Dabbagh J, Younis R, Ismail N. The current available diagnostic tools and treatments of scabies and scabies variants: An updated narrative review. Medicine (Baltimore). 2023 May 26;102(21):e33805. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000033805.
