A Perth-led study has halved skin infections in Aboriginal children living in remote communities.
Untreated skin infections can lead to life-threatening illnesses including rheumatic heart disease, sepsis and kidney disease and the study showed that regular skin checks were the single most powerful measure in reducing infection rates.
Led by The Kids Research Institute Australia and Aboriginal health organisations in partnership with Aboriginal communities in WA’s Kimberley region, the five-year SToP (See, Treat and Prevent) Trial set out to identify the best possible methods to detect and treat painful skin sores and scabies.
It followed 915 children from nine communities in the Kimberley over four years, working with Aboriginal health organisations and community members to identify the best ways to reduce skin infections – all of which disproportionately affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.
“Skin sores, or impetigo, are a massive problem – our previous research has shown children living in Australia’s remote Aboriginal communities have the highest rates of impetigo in the world,” SToP Trial lead Professor Asha Bowen said.
“These painful and itchy infections are so common they were seen as ‘normal’ and often left untreated, which can lead to life-threatening illnesses.”
Researchers worked with the Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services, Nirrumbuk Environmental Health and Services and the WA Country Health Service to complete skin check-ups and yarn about the best approaches for local treatment and sharing prevention messages.
Led by Professor Bowen — head of the Healthy Skin and ARF Prevention team at The Kids’ Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases and Paediatrician at Perth Children’s Hospital — the team visited remote schools three times a year during the study period.
“The magnitude of the project was huge,” Professor Bowen said. “We completed 3,084 skin checks over the four-year period and covered almost 10,000 kms travelling to 81 communities to gain a full picture of how skin infections affect kids and their families.
“Our aim for the SToP Trial was to decrease the burden of skin sores by 50% – an outcome we are proud to have achieved.”
While the rate of skin infections early in the study period was close to 40%, this had been reduced to 20% – two in every 10 children – by the end of the trial.
“The results demonstrated that improved detection through skin surveillance in schools played the biggest role in achieving our outcome – having a strong focus on regular skin checks, communicating these results to the school, clinic and families, and really elevating skin health as a priority were the key factors we were able to identify in the SToP Trial,” Professor Bowen said.
“Ultimately, I would like to see Aboriginal children living in remote communities having the same rates of skin sores as any other child in Australia, which means getting it down to around one in every 20 children.
“The prevention side of our research highlighted the importance of environmental health and the availability of suitable, well-maintained living conditions, so we really need to advocate for solid investment in healthy housing and regular maintenance in order to achieve this.”