Scabies – causes of infection, first signs. How to treat scabies on the hands and whole body

Reasons for appearance

The lesions are caused by the parasite Sarcoptes scabiei. Any living creature that has been infected can carry it. And the more lesions on the patient’s body, the higher the risk that he can infect someone.

what does a scabies mite look like?

Infection is carried out by females and larvae. The female lives in the skin. During the daytime it is inactive, but in the evening it actively gnaws through passages, reproduces, feeds and secretes waste products. Consequently, the greatest risk of infection appears precisely in the evening and night time, when the tick is more active.

Everyone who comes into contact with the infected person is at risk. For example:

• family member
• roommate
• roommate

However, you can also become infected through indirect contact. For example in the following places:

• bathhouse
• public shower
• crowded places

Interesting. Outside a living organism, the female can live up to 3 days.

The disease spreads quickly due to the fact that the female lays eggs from which larvae hatch. After maturation, the latter crawl out to mate. The male dies and the female burrows back into human skin to continue the cycle of reproduction and spread.

Transmission of scabies

The most common source of infection is a person at the end of incubation who does not yet have significant disease, or a patient with obvious signs of disease.

Itching is transmitted from one person to another:

• with direct skin-to-skin contact;
• through sexual intercourse;
• through clothes, towels and bed linen;
• when swimming in pools.

The disease occurs more often in colder seasons. Regular personal hygiene does not prevent infection through contact with an infected person.

The scientific journal Clinical Infectious Diseases cites research confirming the frequency of skin rashes caused by scabies. They are transmitted from person to person, but are not widespread among the population. Fortunately, they can be successfully treated with topical treatments (such as Lindane and permethrin).

Classification of the disease and symptoms

There is a typical form of the rash with its inherent scabies, as well as apathetic forms. The latter include:

• Scabies that has no passages Appears if the cause of infection is larvae. Patients are tormented by itching due to parasites entering the body, but there are no passages because the larvae are not able to gnaw through them. However, scabies only last a couple of weeks until the insects mature and grow.
• Disease of clean people (incognito) It is distinguished by an unclear clinical picture. This disease develops in a person who washes very often, thereby washing away most of the parasites from the body.
• Scabious lymphoplasia is characterized by the formation of small dense nodes of a purple hue near the affected areas. They are very itchy. The nodes often merge into plaques, forming a dry crust. The rash remains on the skin for 2-6 weeks from the moment scabies appears. This is considered a complication, since lymphoid tissue suffers most from such damage.
• Scabious erythroderma Develops in those who develop scabies while simultaneously using antiallergic or hormonal medications. Patients do not suffer from itching and therefore do not scratch or abrade the skin, leaving most of the parasites unharmed. Consequently, their population increases faster than usual, and mites begin to spread even in places with an increased number of sebaceous glands. There are more moves than usual. The skin is dry, red and thick around the joints.
• Norwegian form Very rare. It occurs against the background of immune suppression, for example, taking drugs that enhance the production of hormones, cytostatics, or immunodeficiency. The disease is similar to erythroderma, but the number of parasites in the body is greater than with any other form of the disease. Thick gray and brown crusts (3 mm thick) appear on the affected areas. Ticks live underneath them. The entire epidermis is affected, as well as the nails. The disease becomes systemic - a person’s temperature rises, and the lymph nodes also enlarge.
• The peculiarity of children is that it spreads throughout the child’s body more strongly than through the body of an adult. In a child, lesions can be found even on the face, head, feet and palms. In infants, nails may be affected. A lot of vesicles and red bumps appear on the skin.

  
  scabies in children

• In the elderly Scabies in the elderly is characterized by few symptoms. There are fewer scabies than usual, but the number of scratches and crusts is very large.

  
  Scabies of the elderly

The incubation period appears or disappears depending on whether a person is exposed to infection through a larva or through a female. In the latter case, there is practically no incubation period; symptoms appear immediately. If it is a larva, 2 weeks will pass from the moment of infection until the first symptoms appear (this time is necessary for the larva to grow).

Itching is the main symptom that those infected suffer from. It indicates the activity of the parasite. It can either be present only in certain areas of the skin or spread throughout the entire body (except for the face and places on the head covered with hair). One of the most basic symptoms indicating that a person is infected with scabies is that itching occurs mainly in the evening and at night.

With typical scabies, an itch also appears. It is a white stripe, 5 to 7 mm long. Scabies burrow rises above the epidermis. Most often it forms in the following places:

• folds between fingers
• wrist or elbow joint
• flexion surfaces
• front or sides of the abdomen
• armpits
• in the chest area (in females)
• near the genitals (in males)

With a standard disease, passages do not form in the following places:

• back (upper part)
• neck
• face
• scalp

The reason is that these places contain the largest number of sebaceous glands. The latter produce fat, which clogs the ventilation passages, depriving the parasites of access to oxygen.

Another symptom is when small dense tubercles appear on the body around the follicles, the so-called papules. It is in them that the larvae live until they mature. They prefer the following places:

• front and side parts of the body
• hips
• buttocks

There are other manifestations:

• Vesicles. They are bubbles with transparent contents. Formed on the hands, feet and wrists.
• Pustules. Same as vesicles, but differ in the presence of pus. This indicates bacterial infection.
• Bloody crusts.
• Scratching.

All these symptoms represent a side (allergic) reaction to parasites, their metabolic products, tissue damage and the proliferation of bacteria there.

Complications

Scabies must be treated from the first day the disease is detected. Otherwise, it can cause many unpleasant complications, which will be very difficult to get rid of. For example, pyoderma, or purulent skin lesions, as well as dermatitis, are very common. It is possible to develop microbial eczema and urticaria, but this is not very common.

With prolonged course without treatment, the likelihood of developing deep folliculitis and impetigo increases. Then you will have to contact a surgeon for treatment. As purulent lesions spread, the lymph nodes may become enlarged, the temperature may rise, and the skin may become sore.

Diagnostics

To determine the clinical picture, you need to do the following:

• Explain your symptoms to your doctor in detail. For example, itching only bothers you at certain times
• get tested
• examine the patient's body
• determine the source of infection
• find traces of the tick itself or its larvae

Typically, the disease is determined by the following criteria:

• purulent blisters
• dry crust
• redness on the buttocks
• scabies (the most important criterion)

To determine the itch, the lesion can be stained with iodine, oil containing minerals, or simply pressed on the epidermis with a glass slide. This will block blood from reaching the affected area and allow you to clearly see the affected area. It can also be detected using dermatoscopy (during the procedure the tick itself is detected).

Ticks can be detected using lactic acid. One drop (40%) should be applied to any lesion and wait 5 minutes. The loosened skin can then be scraped off with a sharp spoon until capillary bleeding appears. The resulting epidermis must be applied to a glass slide and looked at under a microscope. The method will allow you to identify most parasites and the products of their activity.

Contact your doctor or nurse if:

• 4 weeks after treatment you still have itching or rash;
• 1 week after treatment you develop a new rash, blisters or peeling skin;
• after treatment, the rash turns into a scab;
• you have one of the following signs of infection: the rash is leaking fluid;
• the site of the rash becomes painful;
• the skin feels warm to the touch;
• redness begins around the rash;
• developed a temperature of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher.

to come back to the beginning

How to treat

For proper treatment, specific therapy must be carried out to confirm scabies. If the doctor was unable to identify the mite and scabies, a trial treatment will be prescribed. In addition, preventive treatment is prescribed to all family members and people in contact with the patient.

The doctor will prescribe medications that kill ticks. Most often they are:

• aerosols
• ointments
• creams
• suspensions
• emulsions

The prescribed drugs will be based on the following substances:

• benzyl benzoate
• permitrina
• sulfur
• piperonyl butoxide
• esbiola

Sometimes treatment includes washing with soap or treating the skin with emollient ointments before using the drug.

Only a doctor can prescribe a medicine and treatment method. It is based on the following criteria:

• clinical picture
• complications
• person's age
• pregnancy

Self-medication can cause complications, apathetic forms of infection or a protracted course of the disease.

Therapeutic course

Clinical guidelines call for treating all patients' skin with emulsions or sprays. The exception is the scalp. Antiscabiotic drugs have low toxicity and do not cause discomfort during treatment. Before the first application of a benzyl benzoate-based product, the patient should take a shower. Repeated treatment of the skin is carried out after 48 hours - ticks in the larval stage die. If the symptoms are completely eliminated, a new cycle of application of the drug is not carried out. After completion of treatment, the patient should use an antiseptic to treat furniture, household items and clothing.

The crusted form of scabies requires a different approach to treatment. Antiscabiosis therapy is preceded by the stage of softening and removing crusts using soap and soda baths or keratolytic ointments. After removing all the stratum corneum, the patient can begin applying the benzyl benzoate solution to the affected areas.

Classic form of itching

The classic form is much more common and is characterized by the following changes:

• severe itching of the skin, worse at night and in hot weather, while during the day the symptoms are milder;
• the appearance of small channels (a grayish-black line on the skin) - most often between the fingers, wrist, forearms, armpits, on the lower abdomen, inner thighs, on the chest around the nipples, genitals, lower part of the buttocks with a small papule at the end or vesicle ( bubble);
• the appearance of dark spots (such as rashes) on the skin;
• the head, face, neck, palms and soles may be affected in children, but this is not common in adults;
• secondary bacterial infections caused by scratching the skin.