Scabies | Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment & Prevention

Scabies definition:

Scabies is a highly contagious skin infestation caused by the Sarcoptes scabiei mite. It’s characterized by intense itching and a pimple-like skin rash. 

Here are some key points about scabies:

Causes of Scabies:

 Scabies is caused by the Sarcoptes scabiei mite, which burrows into the skin, lays eggs, and triggers an allergic reaction, leading to itching.

Transmission of Scabies:

It spreads through prolonged skin-to-skin contact with an infected person. It can also spread through infested clothing or bedding, although this is less common.

Symptoms of Scabies:

Common symptoms include severe itching, especially at night, a pimple-like rash, tiny burrow tracks on the skin (often in folds of skin, such as between fingers, wrists, elbows, or buttocks), and sometimes sores or secondary infections due to scratching.

 

Diagnosis of Scabies:

 Diagnosis is often based on physical examination and identifying typical signs and symptoms. Sometimes, a skin scraping or biopsy may be used to confirm the presence of the mites or their eggs.

Treatment of Scabies: 

Scabies is typically treated with topical medications, such as permethrin cream or lotion, which kill the mites and their eggs. Sometimes oral medications are prescribed for severe cases.

 

Prevention of Scabies: 

Preventive measures include avoiding prolonged skin-to-skin contact with infected individuals, washing or dry-cleaning potentially contaminated clothing or bedding, and ensuring treatment of all household members or close contacts if scabies is diagnosed.

Complications:

 Scratching the itchy skin can lead to skin infections like impetigo or cellulitis. In severe cases, particularly among individuals with weakened immune systems, scabies can result in crusted scabies, a more severe and contagious form of the condition.

It’s important to seek medical advice if scabies is suspected to ensure proper diagnosis and treatment, as well as to prevent its spread to others.

 

Deep Explanation of Scabies :

Scabies is a disease of the hair with which man has been associated for a very long time. Pick up books written centuries ago and see. Scabies is mentioned in them too. Scabies is caused by a parasite. It is caused by an insect which lives on the skin. It is also called Sarcoptes. It has an egg-like structure and shape. It has legs and those legs have suckers attached to them.

 Now this insect, this parasite needs a live skin to keep itself alive and to spread its disease. To reproduce, the female parasite creates small tunnels inside the skin, makes small lines and lays eggs there and then new worms are formed from those eggs and they spread further. This parasite can survive outside the skin only for three days.

The symptoms of scabies are that you see these tunnels, lines on your skin. These are basically tunnels, channels.

How do scabies occur?

1. Whenever a person has scabies, if he has close contact with him, that is, if you meet him or share bed with him or his towel or any of his things which he keeps with him.If you use it, then these parasites will get transferred to your skin.
2.  Scabies take almost a week to heal. Scabies is an itch caused by scabies. You come in contact with it and then after a week you get scabies. Here the female parasite has laid eggs. 

There are two types of treatment:

1.  One is topical, which means you will apply a cream or lotion or gel on the skin.
   If it stays on your body for 10 hours, all the parasites that are causing scabies die.
   Then after a week, you use permethrin again and apply this cream again so that if any eggs etc. were left there, they get killed again. Topical or skin cream is considered the most popular, but there is a cream at 5% which you have to apply on your whole body and you have to try to apply it at night because it causes itching.
2. The other is oral, which means you will take some medicine in the form of a tablet.
   Apart from this, there is another cream called Cro Mitan. Cro Mitan is also used for 10 days but its efficacy is a little less.
   For those who are sensitive to permethrin, Cro Mitan can be used but your doctor will decide which cream will be better for you.
   The second oral medication is Ivor Mactan. Ivor Mactan tablet 12 mg is used for adults and 6 mg for children. This is also a prescription medicine, meaning doctor’s prescription only. I have to take one pill and then wait for a week.
   After this, you have to take a pill again so that whatever parasites are left or have come again on your skin through your clothes or towels etc., they also get eliminated. Even after using Permethrin or Ivor Mactan, itching does not leave you for a week, so you do not have to panic.
3. Yes, you can use anti-allergy medication which will reduce itching. You can use what are called antihistamine or allergy pills.
   Apart from this, it is very important that all your clothes or towels etc., whatever you have used, should be separated and washed in hot water. If you cannot wash or it is something that will get damaged by washing, then keep it in the sun for two to three days because these parasites automatically reduce in two to three days.
   Or people who live in congested areas, such areas It is more prevalent in hostels where there are a lot of people and it is more common in poor uncles as compared to rich uncles.

 

 

It’s important to seek medical advice if scabies is suspected to ensure proper diagnosis and treatment, as well as to prevent its spread to others.
Thank You.