Protecting Yourself from Scabies

What is scabies?

Scabies is a contagious skin disease caused by an itch mite that burrows under the skin. Scabies can cause the skin to ooze and scab, causing intense itching and scratching.

The hands, wrists, and forearms are commonly affected. Mites prefer creased areas of the body, like between the fingers or on the arms.

Scabies affects people from all walks of life without regard to age, sex or race. Nursing homes and child care centers occasionally have outbreaks of the disease.

How Scabies Is Spread

Scabies is spread by direct skin-to-skin contact with an infected person. The disease is usually found where groups of people have frequent contact, such as school children, sexual partners, families, and roommates. Scabies is also spread by coming in contact with infected articles of clothing such as towels, bedding, and undergarments.

Diagnosing Scabies

Since a scabies rash looks like other itchy conditions, such as eczema, it can be hard to diagnose.

The most common test used to diagnose scabies is skin scraping. The doctor applies a drop of mineral oil to the itchy area, the skin is scraped with a scalpel, and the scrapings are analyzed under a microscope.

To perform the ink burrow test, the doctor strokes the itchy areas with a washable felt-pen, and the surface ink is removed with an alcohol swab. If burrows are present, they will absorb the ink and be seen as a dark line.

A biopsy may be performed on a small area of skin. A shave biopsy is less painful and gives a more accurate result in detecting mites, eggs, or mite fecal matter.

In rare cases, a needle extraction of the mite can be performed. After extracting the mite, it is placed on a slide and examined under the microscope.

Your tests may all come back negative, but you still may be infected with scabies.

Scabies Symptoms

If you've never been infested, it may take 4-6 weeks for symptoms of scabies to appear. For a person who has been infested before, symptoms appear within several days. These symptoms may include:

Constant itching, especially at night

Small, insect-like bites on the skin or pimples

Red, crusty skin from scratching

Scabies Treatment