Guys, there’s a scabies outbreak in Liverpool right now – and apparently no student is safe

Now I’m not sure about you, but when I was crafting my shortlist of universities during A-Level exam season, I definitely didn’t consider the likelihood of me suffering from scabies when it came to researching my dream course.

I’d seen TikTok videos warning me how rife Freshers’ Flu gets in first semester, and I’ve certainly heard some grim stories about coursemates catching some not-so-pleasant diseases from their male counterparts, but this? It’s got me itching just thinking about it.

According to researchers and doctors a lot more intelligent than I am, students across Merseyside are currently at high risk of contracting scabies and other similar skin diseases.

The National Health Service (NHS) has reported an alarming rise in cases of scabies in young people, which they have said is linked to “communal living areas such as university accommodation and house shares, where transmission has been heightened”.

They have seen an increase of more than 70 per cent from the 2,128 scabies cases reported in the previous year. Terrifying, we know.

For those of you aren’t quite familiar with scabies – because we certainly weren’t – the disease tends to form as an itchy rash, or raised red sports caused by mites that spread across your body through direct skin-to-skin contact with individuals who are already infected with the skin disease.

It’s treated easily with a topical cream, but it’s not an ideal addition on top of exam stress, deadlines and general day-to-day student life. Professor Paul Garner from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine described his own experience with the disease as “an awful experience”.

“I was continuously itching at the rashes it caused,” he said.

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With student houses and shared accommodations being deemed as the scabies hotspots for students in Liverpool, everyone is being advised to seek treatment or advice from their local GP or pharmacy if they start to display these symptoms.

Those who live in halls of residence with other students should notify their GP to if they share facilities such as shared bathrooms, kitchens, and living spaces.

Students suffering from scabies will experience severe discomfort and skin irritation which will spread across the whole body. It can often affect areas including under the arms, waist, groin, wrists, in between the fingers and the bottom. You heard that right, it will most likely spread to your bottom.

If you’re starting to think that you might have symptoms, NHS advice recommends to wash your bedding at temperatures higher than 60 degrees, and seal any clothes that cannot be washed away into plastic bags. They also state that you should avoid close physical contact with other individuals until your course of treatment is over.

Quite frankly, if you’re thinking of sharing towels or blankets with someone infected with scabies, think again. No student is safe according to these researchers, so keep an eye out for symptoms and report them as soon as you can. It’s easily treatable, just a pretty strange condition to add to your list of diseases you’ve caught during university.