SCABIES and its Treatment

It is an itching disorder and  highly contagious skin condition by an infestation of itch mite Sarcoptes scabiei. Mites are small eight legged parasites (in contrast to insects, which have six legs). They are tiny and burrow into the skin to produce intense itching, which tends to be worse at night.
A scabies infection begins as small, itchy bumps, blisters, or pus filled bumps that break when scratched. Itchy skin may become thick, scaly, scrabbed, and crisscrossed with scratch marks. Itching is caused due to a hypersensitivity reaction to the mite and/or its feces and eggs.

Transmission
Direct skin to skin contact: Mites can only live off the human body for 24-36 hours under most conditions. Transmission of the mites involves close person to person contact of the skin to skin variety.
Sexual physical contact: It is the most common form of transmission among sexually active young people, and it has been considered to be a sexually transmitted disease.

Other forms of physical contact: It includes mother hugging their children to spread the mites.

Common sites for scabies
Skin fold is the common for the appearance of burrows or tracks. In adults it is most often found in
Between fingers
In armpits
Around waist
Along the insides of wrists
On inner elbow
On the soles of feet
Around breasts
Around the male genital area
On buttocks
On knees
On shoulder blades
In children common sites includes:
Scalp
Face
Neck
Palms of the hands
Soles of the feet

Signs and symptoms:
Itching, which is often severe and worse at night
Thin, irregular burrow tracks made up of tiny blisters or bumps on skin

Signs and tests
Physical examination of skin shows signs of scabies.
Tests include a microscopic examination of skin scrapings taken from a burrow to look for the mites.

Treatment and nursing management:
Medicated creams: permethrin 5% is the common used cream for scabies. Other creams include benzyl benzoate, sulfur in petrolatum, and crotamiton. Creams are applied all over the skin.