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Is Scabies Contagious?

What's scabies?

Human scabies is caused by the human itch mite (Sarcoptes scabiei), which burrows into the skin and lays its eggs, leaving behind a rash.
Human scabies is caused by the human itch mite (Sarcoptes scabiei), which burrows into the skin and lays its eggs, leaving behind a rash.
  • Human scabies is caused by the human itch mite (Sarcoptes scabiei, variation or subtype hominis). This itch mite burrows into the upper layers of skin and lays its eggs in the skin.
  • It is found worldwide and often causes outbreaks in places where people are living close together, such as dormitories, nursing homes, institutions, or prisons.
  • The rash often includes areas such as the web spaces of the fingers, wrists, beltline, feet, scrotum, and areolas, but other areas may get infected.

How do you get scabies? Is scabies contagious?

  • Scabies is contagious. However, it usually requires fairly long skin-to-skin contact with an infested person (for example, carrying a person, sleeping with the person, or sexual partners).
  • Infrequently, it may be contagious through contact with clothing or bedding, but this form of transfer of scabies is thought to be very infrequent.
  • In general, most people who become infested with scabies usually have about 10-15 itch mites on their body.
  • One exception to this rule is a scabies infestation that is seen less frequently called crusted or Norwegian scabies, in which large areas of skin are infected with huge numbers (thousands) of itch mites; a person with this type of scabies is highly contagious.
  • Although pets can become infested with similar itch mites, they are not usually spread from humans to animals or from animals to humans.

How long is scabies contagious?

  • As long as an individual has about 10 to 15 itch mites on their body and has skin-to-skin contact with an uninfested person, that person is contagious for scabies and can pass the organisms to others.
  • In addition, a person who has recently acquired scabies and is in the incubation period (without symptoms) is also contagious for scabies.

What are the symptoms of scabies? How do you identify scabies?

  • People usually know if they have scabies from the presence of a very itchy rash that has little tendrils that extend out of an area of itchy rash (these are the burrows that the itch mite makes in the skin layers), especially if they have noticed similar skin changes on a person with whom they may have had close contact.
  • Some physicians may do skin scrapings and, with fairly common laboratory stains, may identify the mite and/or its eggs or fecal matter in the skin scrapings viewed with a microscope.
  • In young children, pinkish-brown nodules may form on the skin. The incubation period for scabies can be up to eight weeks; the infested person can be contagious during this period.

What causes scabies?

  • Scabies is spread by direct and usually prolonged skin-to-skin contact with a person who has the disease.
  • Indirect spread can sometimes occur through contaminated clothing or towels.
  • Crusted or Norwegian scabies is highly contagious, both from direct contact and indirect contact (from clothing, bedding, towels, for example) because of the very high concentration of mites.

How do you get rid of scabies? Are there home remedies for scabies?

  • Scabicides like permethrin are used topically (spread onto skin) to kill the itch mites.
  • Usually, a cream or lotion is applied from the neck down to the feet, and the cure results in remission and finally disappearance of the rash.
  • However, sometimes people may seem to be cured only to have itching and the rash return in a few weeks.
  • This may be due to inadequate treatment that allows the eggs to survive and hatch or may be due to inadequate cleaning of clothing or bedding (scabies mites are killed by hot water and dryer heat, or dry cleaning, and cannot survive more than two or three days away from human skin) or simply due to contacting someone who has scabies.
  • If there is no further symptom development about two to four weeks after treatment, most people will be cured of scabies.

IMAGES

Is Scabies Contagious? See pictures of scabies as well as other bites and infestations See Images

Should I see a doctor for scabies treatment?

  • If you or someone close to you has scabies, contact a physician for treatment and for advice about who else may benefit from treatment (for example, sexual partners, family members).
  • Patients with crusted scabies require isolation and/or barriers (gloves, gowns, for example) to protect others from the mites; such patients often are hospitalized and also tested for underlying health problems (such as immunosuppression).

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References
American Academy of Dermatology. "Scabies." <https://www.aad.org/public/diseases/contagious-skin-diseases/scabies>.

Barry, Megan. "Scabies." Medscape.com. June 28, 2018. <http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1109204-overview>.
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