Scabies

SCABIES

Scabies is an skin infection, it is one of the common skin infection that occurs among children, and even in adults. Infestation is common, found worldwide, and affects people of all races and social classes. Scabies spreads rapidly under crowded conditions where there is frequent skin-to-skin contact between people, such as in hospitals, institutions, child-care facilities, and nursing homes.

Causes

Scabies is contagious, and is usually transmitted by skin contact or through sexual contact with someone else who is infected with it. The infection spreads more easily in crowded conditions and in situations where there is a close contact

Scabies causes by mites that burrow in the skin; it is characterized by small itchy bumps and blisters where the mites lay their eggs.

The burrows sometimes appear as reddish or darkened lines on the skin’s surface, especially around the wrists and between the fingers. A person who has contracted scabies can also develop a bumpy red rash.

Symptoms

Common symptom of scabies is severe itching, which may be worse at night or after a hot bath. A scabies infection begins as small, itchy bumps, blisters, or pus-filled bumps that break when you scratch them. Itchy skin may become thick, scaly, scabbed, with scratch marks.

Hands and feet are the most common areas affected by scabies (especially the webs of skin between the fingers and toes), the wrists inner part, and the folds under the arms. It may also affect other areas of the body, particularly the elbows and the areas around the breasts, genitals, navel, and buttocks.

If a child with scabies scratches the itchy areas of skin, it increases the chance that the injured skin will also be infected by bacteria. Impetigo, a bacterial skin infection, may occur in skin that is already infected with scabies.

Diagnosis

Diagnosis can be made by finding mite burrows, which often may be difficult because they obscured by scratch marks, or by secondary dermatitis or unrelated skin irritation. If burrows are not found in the primary areas known to be affected, the entire skin surface of the body should be examined.

Suspicious areas can be rubbed with ink from a fountain pen or alternately a topical tetracycline solution which will glow under a special light. The surface is then wiped off with an alcohol pad; if the person is infected with scabies, the characteristic zigzag or S pattern of the burrow across the skin will appear.

When a suspected burrow is found, diagnosis may be confirmed by microscopy of surface scrapings, which are placed on a slide in glycerol, mineral oil or immersion in oil and covered with a cover slip. Avoid potassium hydroxide, because it dissolves fecal pellets of the mites. Positive diagnosis is made when the mite, ova, or fecal pellets are found.

Treatment

If a confirmed scabies infection is found:

Wash the affected areas with germicidal soap in running water to wash away some of the mites egg.

Lavender, Tea Tree, and peppermint oil:
Add 8-12 drops of tea tree, or lavender or peppermint oil to the bath water. The oil act as a disinfectant and help the skin to heal.
Celery: Use a small amount of celery leaves and rub in affected area, the pungent odor that celery emits drive the mites off the skin.

If scabies infection is in worse condition you need to see and be treated by a doctor. To avoid complications and contacted another infection like impetigo.

Because scabies can be sexually transmitted, sexually active persons with scabies should be examined for other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) too. Any sexual partners will also need to be treated for scabies.

Skin lotions containing permethrin, lindane or crotamiton are preferred for the treatment of scabies. The lotions are applied to the whole body except the head and neck.

Prevention

Direct physical contact is the most common way to transmit scabies, but because the mites that cause scabies can live as long as 2 to 3 days in clothing, bedding, or dust, it’s possible that the person can catch scabies from another person who shares the same infected bed, linens, or towels.

If someone in the household is being treated for scabies, all other members of the household should be treated, too. Clothing, sheets, and towels should be washed in hot water. Each room in the house should be vacuumed, and the vacuum cleaner bag should then be thrown away.