Scabies
What is Scabies?
Scabies is a u that can be spread from person to person.It is an infestation of the top layer of skin caused by the parasite, often called scabies or mites. The female parasite nestles under the skin and begins laying eggs within a few hours of infection and continues to lay 2 to 3 eggs daily. It takes approximately 10 days for the eggs to hatch and become adult mites. After hatching, the newly formed mites leave the burrow and move to other skin surfaces and repeat the cycle.
Common places of infestation in the body are: webs and sides of fingers and toes, pubic and groin area, armpits, bends of elbows and knees, wrists, navel, breasts, lower portion of buttocks, penis and scrotum, waist and abdomen; rarely, they are found on the palms of the hands, the soles of the feet and the neck upward. For an individual who has never been infected with scabies, symptoms may take 4-6 weeks to begin. For a person who has had scabies, symptoms appear within several days. You do not become immune to an infestation.
The most common symptoms are severe itching especially at night and over most of the body, grayish-white lines or tracks that zigzag on the skin surface, sores on the body caused by scratching. These sores can sometimes become infected with bacteria.
Scabies spreads quickly under crowded conditions where there is frequent skin-to-skin contact between people, such as in hospitals, child-care facilities, and nursing homes. Scabies may also occur by sharing clothing, towels, and bedding, sexual encounter may also result in infestation. Individuals with weakened immune systems and the elderly are at risk for a more severe form of scabies, called Norwegian or crusted scabies.
Scabies Symptoms
If you have scabies, you will likely have itching and irritated skin that gets worse until the mites are killed. These below are the most common scabies symptoms:Itching usually starts first. It often becomes noticeable at night or after bathing and is sometimes mistaken for dry skin. Itching is caused by an allergic reaction to the scabies mite. Sometimes the itching is very intense, especially in small children and older adults.
Irritated skin often appears as a rash and skin sores that look like tiny curving tracks. These scabies symptoms are a result of the mite tunneling under the upper layers of the skin. Sometimes you can see a small blister or the mite itself, which looks like a tiny black dot, at the end of a burrow. The tracks may be difficult to see after you scratch the area. Babies may only have red and inflamed skin, sometimes with small sores that are like blisters.
Symptoms are most likely to develop:
- Between the fingers and on the palm side of the wrists.
- On the outside surfaces of the elbows and in the armpits.
- Around the waistline and navel.
- On the buttocks.
- Around the nipples, bra line, and the sides of the breasts (in women).
- On the genitals (in men).
Around or on the scalp, neck, and face.
On the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. Often the first symptom noticed in a baby is in these areas and is a series of tiny sores that are like blisters (vesicles).
