Conventional Medicine: Scabies

Scabies is a relatively common skin disease. The disease can be spread from one person to another through direct contact or through the sharing of items such as clothes, towels, mattresses, etc. Because the disease is contagious, when one person has scabies, many people will have scabies. In the family, the collective can be infected. Although scabies does not cause serious effects on general health, because many people do not know how to prevent and treat the disease properly, there are some undesirable consequences.

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• 1. What is scabies?
• 2. What causes scabies?
• 3. Symptoms of scabies?
• 4. Diagnosis of scabies?
• 5. Scabies treatment?
• 6. Scabies prevention?

1. What is scabies?

Scabies is a fairly common skin disease, caused by a parasitic insect on the skin

Scabies is a skin disease, which can be spread to others, caused by a parasite called Sarcoptes scabiei (the scabies female) that penetrates the skin and causes skin lesions and symptoms.

2. What causes scabies?

As the name suggests, scabies is caused by a parasite called Sarcoptes scabiei (scabies). The truth is that Sarcoptes scabiei is of two types, male and female. Male scabies does not cause disease because it will die after intercourse and only female mites cause symptoms, so the real cause of scabies is female scabies.

The causative agent of scabies is the scabies parasite

Scabies summary:

• The scabies has eight legs and is so small that it can hardly be seen with the naked eye.
• They are more active at night, at night they burrow and during the day they lay eggs, each mite lays an average of 3 eggs per day.
• When a person has scabies, the average person has less than 20 scabies mites, but in some cases it can be as many as millions.

Risk factors that make us susceptible to scabies include:

• The disease is more common in poor countries, in people living in cramped and crowded environments such as slums, refugee camps, etc.
• Scabies can affect anyone, but children and women are more susceptible.
• People with reduced resistance will be more susceptible to scabies such as: the elderly, people living with HIV, organ transplant recipients.
• In particular, people who come into contact with or live with a person with scabies will be most likely to be most susceptible to spreading the disease.

3. Symptoms of scabies?

The main and most prominent manifestation of scabies is itching

• On first contact with scabies, the itching and burning symptoms do not appear and will manifest after 6-8 weeks.
• The patient's itching is very intense and increases much at night. Because at night, scabies often move to burrow, stimulating sensory nerve endings in the skin, making the patient more itchy.

After the symptoms of itching appear, on the skin blisters or scabies (tunnel scabies) appear.

• Vesicles are small in size, scattered, separate, not clustered in thin skin areas.

The most common sign of scabies in humans when having scabies is itching

• Tunnel scabies (scabies bed) is a very characteristic sign, but not always easy to find. The tunnel formed by the scabies, slightly raised on the surface of the skin. At the top of the tunnel is a small blister and that is where the scabies resides. When the needle is inserted into these blisters, the fluid will ooze to reveal a gray or black color, using a skewer will catch the scabies clinging to the tip of the needle.

After itching, specific lesions appear as scabs and blisters

Lesions are usually located in thin skin areas such as between fingers, palm lines, front of wrists, forearms, breast folds, around the waist, navel, between buttocks, inner thighs and genitals . In children, the skin of the face and scalp of the heels and soles of the feet may be affected.

4. Diagnosis of scabies?

To accurately diagnose scabies, we must rely on symptoms and tests .

About symptoms:

• The patient is very itchy, increasing at night with separate blisters on thin skin.
• In the family, school, or office, someone with scabies suggests the possibility of transmission.

Tests:

• Accurate diagnosis of scabies is based on criteria for finding scabies females, scabies eggs on the skin by scraping the blisters at the top of the tunnel with a knife and looking under the microscope or using a magnifying glass to catch the scabies at the end of the road. tunnel in the skin.
• However, scabies is not always found, so it is important to rely on symptoms and suspicions of spread.

5. Scabies treatment?

Because scabies is very contagious, treatment should adhere to the following principles:

• Treating the disease for both family members, groups, and kindergartens when detecting anyone with scabies.
• Apply the medicine exactly according to the instructions of the doctor: apply the medicine once in the evening, apply it after bathing to be more effective, apply it all over the body except the face and scalp. Pay attention to carefully apply the creases, between the fingers, around the nails, behind the ears; Particularly for children, the drug should always be applied to both the face and scalp.
• Wash and dry clothes, blankets, towels and other personal items.
• Isolate sick people, do not sleep together and do not share personal items.

Specific treatment:

• Medicines to relieve itching : Your doctor will prescribe medications to relieve itching symptoms such as:  

• Antihistamines: chlorpheniramine, hydroxyzine hydrochloride, diphenhydramine taken before bed.
• If necessary, the doctor may prescribe a topical corticosteroid cream to relieve itching when the patient has used scabies medicine.

• Scabies Repellents : Your doctor will usually prescribe medications that kill scabies females such as:

• Permethrin 5% cream: apply and stay on the skin for 8-12 hours, wash off immediately afterwards. Repeat once a week.
• Lindane 1% cream: apply and stay on the skin for 6 hours, wash off immediately after. Repeat once a week.
• Crotamiton 10% cream: apply and stay on the skin for 24 hours, wash off immediately afterwards. For 3-5 consecutive days.
• Benzyl benzoate 10% cream: apply and stay on the skin for 24 hours, wash off immediately afterwards. For 3-5 consecutive days.
• 2-10% sulfur grease: apply and stay on the skin for 24 hours, wash off immediately afterwards. For 3 consecutive days.
• Ivermectin: a single dose. May repeat after 2 weeks.

Pay attention to follow-up when treating: the disease responds well after 3-5 days of applying the drug, but there are no new blisters on the skin. Patients should note that the symptoms of itch can persist for several weeks, so a moisturizer can be applied to reduce itching.

6. Scabies prevention?

Scabies prevention measures are simple and include:

• Daily personal hygiene by bathing with soap.
• When someone around us has an itch, especially at night, we should quickly see a dermatologist.
• When you have scabies, it is necessary to avoid contact with people around, not share furniture and sleep separately. Patients need to go to the doctor right away to get early treatment and avoid spreading to everyone around.

Scabies is very contagious!

Scabies is highly contagious, so when you or those around you get sick, you need to quickly go to a specialist for treatment and take preventive measures to avoid spreading.

Doctor Vo Thi Ngoc Hien

>> Above is the information to help you understand what scabies is. If you are showing signs of scabies, quickly see your doctor for advice on appropriate treatment.