What is scabies and how to treat it?
Scabies is a contagious, itchy skin disease caused by the infestation of the scabies parasite on the body.
Scabies signs and symptoms
Itchy skin is one of the most obvious symptoms of scabies. This disease is not accompanied by pain, but the itching caused by it may be more intense for several weeks and its intensity is more at night. Itchy skin can cause ulcers and skin injuries. When a person has a severe form of scabies, he experiences dryness and hardening of the skin.
Causes of scabies
The Demodex mites that cause scabies in humans are tiny and microscopic.
The female scabies parasite (sarcoptes) pierces the patient’s skin, creating tunnels for laying eggs. When the eggs hatch, the larvae (baby insects) of scabies come to the skin surface to mature and be transferred to other parts of the patient’s skin, or the other skin in contact with the patient.
Your skin itching in this disease is due to your body’s reaction to parasites, eggs, and waste. Be careful that any physical contact or use of clothes or bedding of a person with scabies will cause the parasites to be transferred to your skin and you will be infected with this disease.
Humans and animals will be affected by two different types of scabies. Each species of scabies parasite has its host – animal or human – and cannot survive for a long time apart from the respective host. Humans can develop skin reactions when exposed to animals with scabies, but in general, a human cannot fully and severely contract the disease when it is transmitted from another human. It can be received from an animal.
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What are the ways to prevent scabies?
To prevent getting infected with this disease and prevent it from being transmitted to other people, use the following methods:
- Cleaning all clothes and fabrics: First, use warm water and soap, and wash all your clothes, towels, and sleeping accessories (sheets, pillowcases, etc.) that you have used during the three days before the treatment.
- Starve the parasites: Another thing you can do to kill the parasites is to put the items that you cannot wash in a plastic bag and tie them so that there is no way to get inside. it is not After placing the items in a plastic bag, place it in an out-of-the-way place (such as a parking lot) for a few weeks. After a few days, the parasites in your belongings will die due to lack of food and starvation
What is the method of diagnosing scabies?
To determine if you have scabies, your doctor will examine your skin and look for signs of the presence of the parasite using various methods, such as examining the characteristics of the holes in the skin. After the doctor finds the hole related to the parasite on the skin, he takes a sample from that area to examine it under a microscope. By examining the skin sample under the microscope, the doctor will detect the presence of the parasite or its eggs in your skin.
What are the treatment methods for scabies?
The main treatment of scabies is generally by eliminating the infestation of the parasite through the use of lotions prescribed by the doctor. Also, to control the side effects of the disease, antihistamines are prescribed to control itching, and antibiotics to eliminate the infection caused by constant scratching of the skin. In most of the medicines used to treat scabies, compounds containing sulfur have been used.
Generally, the patient is completely cured by the end of the fourth week. If the disease does not improve within a month, it may still be infested with scabies mites. Of course, the itching will continue for about a month after the treatment.
What is the treatment for scabies?
Scabies do not go away without treatment, but despite being annoying, it is usually treated effectively. Treatment includes oral medications or the use of topical creams and lotions with a doctor’s prescription. Doctors usually prescribe topical medications.
Permethrin ointment is the most common treatment method. Other treatments include benzyl benzoate, sulfur in petrolatum, crotamiton, lindane, and malathion.
Apply permethrin cream from the neck down, leave it overnight, and then wash it off. which usually repeats after seven to 15 days. Permethrin is approved for use from 2 months of age and older.
Alternative treatments are lindane lotion or cream, which is applied from the neck down and washed off after about eight hours, because lindane can lead to convulsions when it is absorbed through the skin, so in sensitive and irritable skin, moist, skin diseases, skin rashes or after bathing. For more caution, Lindane should not be used in pregnant women, nurses, elderly people, people with skin ulcers, or children under 2 years of age, and should not be used by people weighing less than 5 kg. Lindane is not the first line of treatment.
Advice on scabies
Some doctors recommend that all family members should be treated even without any symptoms of the disease (it is better to treat all family members at the same time so that the infected person cannot infect the rest of the people again).
Be sure to do the second round of treatment which is recommended 7 to 15 days later, despite the improvement of itching, to prevent re-infection.
There are differences of opinion about the possibility of contracting scabies through clothes or textiles. It is better to wash all your clothes, towels, and bedding in hot water or put them in direct sunlight for several hours.
Put all non-washable dolls or toys in a plastic bag for a week. The scabies parasite cannot survive for a long time without a human host.
It is also better to sweep your home and keep the vacuum cleaner bag away.
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