The outbreak of scabies after Tropical Cyclone Winston hit is getting worse, the president of Fiji College of General Practitioners Dr John Fatiaki revealed.

As a result of the damage on buildings and infrastructure, Dr Fatiaki said such an environment restricted people to live with good hygiene and sanitation and as such people are vulnerable to skin diseases.

“When you don’t have clean water and nutritious food and you have to eat tinned stuff and all these things diminish your body to resist these infections,” he said.

“That’s why there is an outbreak of these diseases and skin infections which many people call scabies become permanent.”

Other disease Dr Fatiaki highlighted are boils, sores, infected wounds, scratches, diarrheal disease and pneumonia.

He is urging the public people get treatment for such diseases to prevent it from spreading.

“The aim is to get back to where we were before the cyclone and to try and prevent these things before it starts spreading in a population,” Dr Fatiaki said.

Edited by Naisa Koroi

jessica.gounder@fijisun.com.fj