subject: Etiology, Indicators As Well As Drugs For Scabies [print this page] Scabies are small mites that dig down into the human skin and lives for a time. These mites affect all people with no regard to their age, income, race or social standings. The mites can be spread by being close to someone who already has them or by wearing their clothes and using their towels and bed sheets. There are many instances where entire families are affected at one time since the bugs can be spread so easily within a home without any symptoms being present.
The symptoms of these mites includes having lesions or skin sores as well as severe itching. The itching will generally get worse in the evening, and old persons as well as children have the worst itching reactions. It can take up to 4 weeks of having the mites under your skin before the symptoms are seen, and this is normal for those that have never contracted them before.
Diagnosing this condition is done through taking into account all symptoms, and finding out if you have been in contact with someone who also has the same symptoms. Looking for mites microscopically on a small skin sample by scraping dry skin off of an area is the most reliable means of diagnosis.
Mites of this kind require treatment, as they will not die on their own.
Lotions and creams are the most common treatments, while some severe cases will get an oral prescription. Due to age, children and the elderly generally will not use the same medications as all other cases. Women who are pregnant or breast feeding will take special precautions while taking these medications.
Permethrin and Sulfur are both lotions that have to be washed away after every application, while Lindane and Crotamiton has to be removed only after the last application. An oral medicine like Ivermectin is prescribed, and those persons taking it are generally no longer able to pass the insects after about 2 days.
It is common for an entire household to be treated if one person is diagnosed, to keep the scabies from spreading. All clothing, bedding or wash cloths and towels must be washed in hot water to help kill off any remaining bugs.
When done with treatment, it can take as long as a month for the symptoms to completely go away such as the itching. It can take longer than this for the allergic reaction the mites cause to be completely gone. If you still have symptoms after a month, another treatment can be used.
