The observation of the predominance of scabies and streptococcal skin infection in the skin diseases occurring in the outpatient department of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana, led to a survey being conducted. It began with an exploratory survey in two well-defined communities, a medium security prison with a population of 1063 and a village with a population of 3000. This was later followed by an epidemiological survey in the village. The results showed that the most common skin disease in middle Ghana (a tropical rainforest area) was scabies with about 17.6% of the population having the disease.
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