Hooked On Your Skin - Useful Scabies Facts

Scabies are generally transmitted through intimate skin to skin contact, such as sleeping together with an infected individual. The disease is a type of skin disease which is highly infectious. It is caused by a microscopic mite scientifically known as sarcoptes scabei and characterized by an inflammation.

The mites do not fly or jump and just move very slowly. They can exist outside a human host up to four days. At this time, they can be transferred to humans through infested household items, clothes, sheets and other personal items.

The itch mite that causes the scabies is called Sarcoptes scabiei. This type of mites is attracted by the heat and the smell of the human body. Female mites go into the skin, literally digging small tunnels, the size of very small threads, which sometimes are visible. That is the place where the parasites lay their eggs.

A healthy person can be contaminated by prolonged, intimate contact with a person that is infested. One can also have the mites by handling items that have been used or clothing materials that have been worn by the infested person.

The parasite can enter the skin very quickly especially in rough areas of the skin, such as the elbows, the fingers and the knees.

After going under the skin, a female mite can lay up to twenty eggs before it dies. Those eggs laid under the skin will transform into larva three days later. The larva moves on the surface of the skin and they become adults after fourteen to seventeen days later. The whole cycle continues until the itchy mites are destroyed.

Sarcoptes scabiei contaminate only humans and not animals. In the same manner animal mites cannot infect humans because they cannot thrive and produce eggs on the human body.

Nevertheless, the animal mites can stay under the skin for a time long enough to cause itch and allergies but the mite will eventually expire without laying eggs. Since scabies are highly contagious, a healthy person can still be infected by a person who appears to have been healed of his/her infestation. However, if treatment was not properly administered, then the mites will not be fully exterminated. It might take several weeks before the symptoms resurface.

All this time, the patient is highly contagious, because this time is also known as the incubation period. The symptoms as well as the manifestation of the affection become more pregnant after taking a bath or especially during the night. Sometimes they can be mistaken with dry skin, because that is how they look.

The itching sensation is caused by the allergic reaction to the mite. For children and for older people who are infected, the itchy might become severe.

The skin has the aspect of a rash and small curves can be noticed at the sensitive skin level. These are the results of the tunnels dug by the mites. Sometimes, a small black dot can be seen. It is the parasite itself, at the end of the lesion.

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