subject: What are Scabies and how to one get rid of it [print this page] What are Scabies and how to one get rid of it
On 10-5-2010 we find that my son Steven had Scabies, so we begin to do some research and this is what we find out.
Scabies is a common skin infective that causes small uncomfortable bumps and blisters due to tiny mites that burrow into the top layer of human skin to lay their eggs.
The burrows sometimes appear as short, wavy, reddish, or darkened lines on the skin's surface, mainly around the wrists and between the fingers. A child who has contracted scabies can also develop a bumpy red rash.
Scabies is transmittable, and is usually transmitted by skin-to-skin contact or through sexual contact with someone else who is contaminated with it. The being infected spreads more easily in crowded circumstances and in situations where there is a lot of close contact - like childcare centers or nursing homes.
So if someone in your child's class or childcare group has scabies, it's wise to have your child taken care of for the virus even before he or she develops conditions.
Signs and Symptoms
The most common symptom of scabies is severe itching, which may be worse at night or after a hot bath. A scabies virus begins as small, uncomfortable bumps, blisters, or pus-filled bumps that break when you scratch them. Itchy skin may become thick, scaly, scabbed, and crisscrossed with scratch marks.
The areas of the body most commonly affected by scabies are the hands and feet (mainly the webs of skin between the fingers and toes), the inner part of the wrists, 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 uncomfortable areas of skin, it increases the chance that the injured skin will also be infected by bacteria. Impetigo, a bacterial skin virus, may occur in skin that is already contaminated with scabies.
Scabies infections need to be treated by a doctor. Call the doctor or health-care professional any time your child has a skin itch or rash that will not go away, especially if the itch is worse at night and seems to center around the wrists or the webbed part of the fingers.
Doctors treat scabies by prescribing a medicated cream or lotion to kill the mites. The cream will need to be applied to the skin all over the body, not just the area with the rash, and usually must remain on the skin for 8 to 12 hours before it can be washed off.
After applying it, don't wash your hands - scabies mites love the area between the fingers!
You may want to apply the prescription before your child goes to bed, then wash it off in the morning. Most often, the treatment needs to be repeated in 1 week.
The doctor may prescribe antibiotics if your child develops a bacterial skin infection such as impetigo in addition to the scabies virus. The doctor may also prescribe an antihistamine to help relieve the itching and a cream like hydro-cortisone to help the rash go away faster.
