Scabies – Symptoms and Treatment

Proven content

Scabies – is a skin disease with the most infections recorded in the fall. People working in large clusters and children attending schools and kindergartens are the most exposed to scabies. The first reports of scabies date back to Bible times. Even though a long time has passed, scabies remains a current medical problem.

Scabies – who can get it?

Contrary to popular belief, scabies does not only affect people with reduced immunity, living in environments with low hygiene standards. Anyone can become infected with scabies, regardless of age, gender or socioeconomic status.

The most common way of infection is direct contact with the skin of an infected person, especially sexual contact, as well as sleeping in the same bed or wearing the same clothes. Globally 300 million people are infected with scabies, which is 5 percent. population.

Scabies – a parasite that causes scabies

Scabies, because we are talking about it, is a tiny parasite belonging to the group of arachnids. It has eight legs, which allows it to crawl on the surface of hot skin at a speed of 2,5 cm per minute. The female is 0,3-0,4 mm long, the male is half the length. After mating, the male dies. The female, on the other hand, drills tunnels in the stratum corneum, the so-called scabies burrowsin which it lays 2-3 eggs a day, from which adults develop after about three weeks.

1. Where does itchy skin in the evening come from?

Scabies can reach the stratum corneum of the person who has been in contact with the sick person within an hour. Scabies hatching period usually 3-4 weeks. This means that during this time the patient, although there are no symptoms, can be a source of infection for people from the closest environment. After about a month, clinical symptoms of scabies appear in the form of severe itching, which intensifies when the body is warmed up, usually at night or after a hot bath.

Scabies – symptoms in infants and young children

In infants and young children, the clinical picture of scabies differs from that in adults. Vesicles, pustules and papules located on the head, neck, hands, soles of the feet and skin folds are characteristic. Blistering is relatively common in infants, and lesions may be bacterially contaminatedespecially for the hands and feet.

On the other hand, in older children, the nature and location of skin lesions are similar to that of adults. In elderly people, apart from the typical areas, the scalp, elbows, knees and soles of the feet may be affected.

Norwegian scabies

It is a much less common form of the disease today Norwegian scabies (the so-called hyperkeratotic scabies), i.e. a severe form of scabies, which most often affects people with mental and physical retardation and immunodeficiency (HIV-infected people undergoing immunosuppressive treatment).

Characteristic for Norwegian scabies are skin changes in the form of keratinized scabs and scales located on the scalp, face, elbows, hands, knees and feet. In the course of the disease, however, there may be no rash or severe itching. It is very easy to get infected from people suffering from Norwegian scabies – the affected skin contains a large number of parasites and their eggs. All you need to do is shake your hand, contact the patient’s clothing or even furniture that has found scabies.

Scabies – proceedings

In the event of the aforementioned ailments, you should visit a dermatologist as soon as possible, who, after a careful examination of the skin and finding characteristic symptoms, will recommend appropriate treatment. Although scabies in most cases is a minor disease, sometimes it can be associated with significant complications, therefore it is necessary to try to properly diagnose and initiate treatment as soon as possible.

1. Make an appointment with a dermatologist today at Medonet Market

The diagnosis of infection is made on the basis of an interview and physical examination. The doctor can make a diagnosis on the basis of the symptoms themselves, i.e. intense itching, which increases when the body is warmed up (at night or after a bath) and maculo-vesicular eruptions. Sometimes other skin conditions can make diagnosis of scabies difficultsuch as erythroderma or psoriatic eczema.

In addition to the described changes, people look for scabies that are several millimeters long, usually tortuous. Most often they are located on the inner surface of the fingers. Using a magnifying glass, you can see the scabies as a dark spot at the ends of the burrow.

The final diagnosis is made on the basis of identifying the parasite or its eggs microscopic examination of epidermal scrapings that are removed with a needle or knife from lesions characteristic of scabies. However, for typical scabies, unlike Norwegian scabies, testing is often false-negative and is therefore not required for treatment.

Untreated scabies in addition to unbearable itching, it can lead to extensive skin changes, as well as subcutaneous tissue inflammation, boils or lymphangitis. In some situations, the consequences of not having treatment can be very serious, such as glomerulonephritis or rheumatic fever. For many people, however, the most severe consequence of scabies is a sense of shame, isolation and social rejection.

Treatment of scabies

Symptoms of the disease appear 3-4 weeks after infection, and the patient may become infected during this time. Therefore, treatment should also be applied to people with whom the patient had contact during this period. It is used in adults and children over 2 years of age topical anti-scabies remedies (permethrin, benzyl benzoate, sulfur preparations), which should be applied evenly to the entire body except the head, including the front of the neck, the nape, the hands and the soles of the feet.

Topical preparations used in the treatment of scabies are in the form of ointments, creams, emulsions or gels. During application, special attention should be paid to the interdigital spaces of the hands and feet, nail shafts, wrists, elbows, armpits, genital area and buttocks. In infants and children up to 2 years of age inclusive, the skin of the face, ears and head should also be treated. It is best to apply topical preparations in the evening hours, which increases the exposure of mites to drugs.

In the case of bacterial superinfections, the doctor may additionally recommend the use of topical or oral antibiotics. Oral medications also include antihistamines to relieve itching. An important supplement to the therapy is taking measures to reduce the risk of re-infection. For this purpose, after the end of therapy, bedding, underwear and clothes should be changed and washed at high temperature (above 50 degrees C) or stored in plastic bags for 72 hours, i.e. longer than scabies can survive outside the human skin (it dies at a temperature lower than 15 degrees C).

Treatment of scabies – home remedies

As an adjunct in the treatment of scabies, you can use home remedies to alleviate the symptoms typical of the disease. One solution is to use herbal infusions to rub the skin. For this purpose, you can use infusions of calendula, thyme, tansy, caraway or plantain. Another possibility is to use tea, cinnamon or lavender oil as an addition to the bath.

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Untreated scabies

After treatment of scabies, symptoms such as rashes and itchy skin may persist for up to a month. Bothersome ailments are the result the presence of dead scabies in the scabies hollowed out by them and do not necessarily indicate ineffective treatment. Only exfoliation of the skin eliminates these symptoms.

However, if the itching and rash do not go away within a month of stopping treatment, it may be an allergy or reaction to the medication. In some cases it also happens scabies reinfection, caused by:

1. under-treatment of some scabies;
2. reinfection from relatives or family members who have not received treatment;
3. contact with uncontaminated clothes or bedding.