The Complete Guide For Getting Rid Of Scabies | Skin & Hair problems slideshows | Body & Health Conditions center

Scabies Overview

Scabies is an infestation in the skin with a mite known as Sarcoptes scabiei hominis, the "hominis" referring to a strain that can only reproduce inside human skin. You can become infected with scabies from a pet, but if the mites come from a pet, they can't reproduce inside your skin, so when they die, the itching goes away. If you catch scabies from another human being, however, the mites can hatch inside your skin. Scabies mites are almost too small to see, creating burrows in the skin 2 to 10 mm (1/10 to 1/2 inch) long that can ooze, itch, and form brown crusts, usually on regions of skin that experience pressure. Scabies can occur between the fingers, under the belt line, between the toes, and in the folds of the arms at the elbows and in the legs at the knees. Usually the condition results from infestation with just 10 to 15 mites, but people who have compromised immune systems can host as many as 1 million mites in their skin.

Sources & Links

Important notification about information and brand names used in this slideshow!
Photo courtesy of Cixi by Wikimedia Commons : commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ScabiesD11.JPG
www.medicinenet.com/scabies_pictures_slideshow/article.htm

Transmission And Risk Factors

Scabies is transmitted from skin to skin, an infestation usually not producing any symptoms for about 10 weeks. Typically just 10 to 15 mites are transmitted in a single contact, but the females may reproduce inside the skin for months over even years. In temperate and cold climates, scabies outbreaks are most common in situations in which people are crowded close together, such as disaster shelters, nursing homes, and prisons. In the tropics, any situation in which sleeping spaces are shared leads to scabies infestations. In some parts of the world, notably in the Sahara desert, up to 60% of the population is infected, and in some parts of Central America, up to 100% of the population has scabies. Every year about 300 million people worldwide contract the disease.

Sources & Links

Important notification about information and brand names used in this slideshow!
Photo courtesy of Dave Morris by Flickr : www.flickr.com/photos/davemorris/9396177214/
Schumann-Gable, N. Dermatology. In: Custer J, Rau R. The Johns Hopkins Hospital: The Harriet Lane Handbook. 8. 18th. Philadelphia, PA: Mosby Elsevier. 2009:229-230.

A Condition Caused By Mites

The itching caused by scabies is actually an allergic reaction to the eggs the female mite lays in a burrow she tunnels in the stratum corneum, in the tough outermost layer, of human skin. The eggs hatch into larvae 3 to 10 days later, and the wormlike larvae move around on the skin to find a new site to mate and lay more eggs as they mature into the nymph stage. Altogether, each generation of scabies mites lives 3 or 4 weeks in and on the skin, the parasite spending its entire life on human skin unless it arrives via contact with an infested animal, such as a dog, cat, horse, cow, sheep, goat, koala, or wombat.

Sources & Links

Important notification about information and brand names used in this slideshow!
Photo courtesy of Milosz1 by Flickr : www.flickr.com/photos/mikolski/3270739040/
Schumann-Gable, N. Dermatology. In: Custer J, Rau R. The Johns Hopkins Hospital: The Harriet Lane Handbook. 8. 18th. Philadelphia, PA: Mosby Elsevier. 2009:229-230.

Scabies And Pets

Scabies are a common problem in dogs and cats, causing the condition known as mange. The mites that infest your pets can jump to your skin, but they cannot reproduce in your skin. You will only have a problem with scabies contracted from your pet for a few weeks at a time. Your pet, however, may have mange for its entire life if not properly treated. Only two treatments work for the problem in pets. One is amitraz (brand name Mitaban) and 2 to 4 percent lime-sulfur (LymDyp). Unfortunately, amitraz is not approved by the FDA for use in the USA, and the lime-sulfur dip causes an intense odor neither you nor your pet will like. But it's much better to have a temporarily stinky pet than one that will literally scratch its skin raw because of the awful itch.

Sources & Links

Important notification about information and brand names used in this slideshow!
Photo courtesy of reader of the pack by Flickr : www.flickr.com/photos/youngandwithit/280151865/
WebMD, Healthy Dogs: Dog Mange, http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/dog-mange-scabies, Accessed 20 August 2013.

Signs And Symptoms Of Scabies

If your pet has scabies, you'll know. Dogs and cats will scratch and bite their own skin in a futile effort to get rid of the mites. In humans, scabies may cause no symptoms at all until the mites have several generations, 2 to 4 months, to build up sufficient numbers to cause an allergic reaction in the skin. During this time, they can be transferred from one person to another, and they may also survive in bed clothes and bed linens for up to 2 or 3 days while waiting for another host. In addition to intense itching, scabies can cause red or white "tunnels" 2 to 10 mm (1/10 to 1/2 inch) long in the skin, red rashes, blisters, and brownish to honey-colored oozing over the site of the infestation. When scabies is sexually transmitted, there may be itchy pink spots on the areola around the breast in women and on the penis and scrotum in men. In children, scabies tend to cluster between the fingers and toes and under any areas of skin under tight clothing.

Sources & Links

Important notification about information and brand names used in this slideshow!
Photo courtesy of Cixi by Wikimedia Commons : commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ScabiesD03.jpg
Mehta V, Balachandran C, Monga P, Rao R, Rao L. Images in clinical practice. Norwegian scabies presenting as erythroderma. Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol. Nov-Dec 2009. 75(6):609-10.

How To Know For Sure It's Scabies

A long list of conditions can cause symptoms similar to scabies. These conditions include viral infections of the skin, lice infestations, allergic reactions, psoriasis, leukemia of the skin, flea bites, skin abrasion by fiberglass, eczema, severe celiac disease (gluten sensitivity), and even some psychomatic reactions, to name just a few. The hallmark sign that distinguishes scabies from other conditions, however, is the presence of white tunnels followed by red spots. The female mite lays her eggs in a tunnel in the uppermost layer, the statum corneum, of the skin, and their presence causes an allergic reaction. The location of the rash is also a telltale sign. If this combination of symptoms occurs on the breast of a sexually active woman or the penis of a sexually active man, chances are that the parasite was sexually transmitted. In children, the rash is more likely to break out between the fingers or toes, or under the belt line.

Sources & Links

Important notification about information and brand names used in this slideshow!
Photo courtesy of Penarc by Wikimedia Commons : commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scabies-RechterFuss.jpg
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Scabies fact sheet. Atlanta. 2005. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/scabies/factsht_scabies.htm. Accessed 20 August 2013.

Special Symptoms Of Scabies

In adults, scabies causes tunnels in blisters, but when it occurs in babies, who can't scratch, it often causes pink, crusty blisters that can be mistaken for eczema. Sometimes the child will be taken off milk--which involves serious issues in maintaining healthy nutrition--rather than given the needed treatment for scabies. In an infant, the blister will often grow into a large, brown nodule up to 20 mm (nearly an inch) across. Norwegian scabies doesn't cause the severe itch, but often causes large patches of white, tough skin. When Norwegian scabies occurs on the scalp, there is hair loss. This form of scabies can also cause problems with fingernails and toenails.

Sources & Links

Important notification about information and brand names used in this slideshow!
Photo courtesy of Christiana Care by Flickr : www.flickr.com/photos/christianacare/5890531549/
Chosidow O. Clinical practices. Scabies. N Engl J Med. Apr 20 2006. 354(16):1718-27.

Treatment With Creams And Antihistamines

The first line of treatment for scabies is an anti-itch or antipruritic cream. Often newly diagnosed scabies patients are given a prescription for a steroid cream containing prednisone. Steroids are highly effective for relieving itch, but they also immobilize the immune system. If the skin has been severely damaged by the mites, then it may not be possible to treat the lesion with a prednisone cream. Antihistamines are usually taken orally, so that they relieve itching from the inside out. Applying a Benadryl cream directly to the skin usually is not especially helpful. It also helps to keep the skin moisturized. Creams and antihistamines, it is important to understand, relieve the itch but don't affect the parasite itself.

Sources & Links

Important notification about information and brand names used in this slideshow!
Photo courtesy of Micah MacAllen by Flickr : www.flickr.com/photos/micahmacallen/62533486/
Cydulka RK, Hancock M. Dermatologic presentations. In: Marx JA, Hockberger RS, Walls RM, eds. Rosen's Emergency Medicine Concepts and Clinical Practice. Vol 2. 6th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier's Health Sciences. 2005:1854-1855/118.

Wash Linens And Bedclothese

When there is an outbreak of scabies in your household, it is essential to wash bedsheets and bedclothes every single day for the two or three weeks it can take for anti-parasitic drugs to get the problem under control. This is not just to protect sleeping partners. It is also to keep people who have scabies from being reinfected by the sheets they sleep on or the pajamas they sleep in as they are getting better. When the scabies mite is in the nymph stage, it can survive for 2 to 3 days on clothing or bed linens, especially if heat and humidity are high.

Sources & Links

Important notification about information and brand names used in this slideshow!
Photo courtesy of Rosa Money by Flickr : www.flickr.com/photos/myprettypicture/2578007164/
Heukelbach J, Wilcke T, Winter B, Feldmeier H. Epidemiology and morbidity of scabies and pediculosis capitis in resource-poor communities in Brazil. Br J Dermatol. Jul 2005.153(1):150-6.

Preventing Scabies In Communities

In areas of the world where most people don't get scabies, the parasite tends to spread in epidemics that happen every 30 years or so. The triggering even for a scabies epidemic is usually some kind of disaster in which massive numbers of people have to share a common shelter area. That is why it is especially important for the people who manage disaster shelters, bomb shelters, and mass casualty facilities to ensure that either people do not share bedding and mattresses, or that bedding and mattresses can be cleaned on a regular basis, that they are not passed directly from one person to another. It is also important to maintain cleanliness for people who have compromised immune systems, such as people who live in rest homes.

Sources & Links

Important notification about information and brand names used in this slideshow!
Photo courtesy of Tamaki Sono by Flickr : www.flickr.com/photos/tamakisono/4365228458/
Feldmeier H, Jackson A, Ariza L, Calheiros CM, Soares Vde L, Oliveira FA, et al. The epidemiology of scabies in an impoverished community in rural Brazil: presence and severity of disease are associated with poor living conditions and illiteracy. J Am Acad Dermatol. Mar 2009. 60(3):436-43.