TREAT SCABIES AT HOME

 

SCABIES IS AN ANCIENT WORLDWIDE DISEASE AFFECTING ALL RACES AND SOCIAL CLASSES.

 

SCABIES IS CAUSED BY A MITE WHICH 

LAYS EGGS IN THE HUMAN SKIN. THESE EGGS THEN HATCH AND GROW INTO ADULT MITES WHICH REPEAT 

THIS CYCLE. THIS MEANS THAT THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF THIS SKIN CONDITION CAN LAST FOR 

MONTHS OR EVEN YEARS.

MORE THAN 200 MILLION PEOPLE ARE AFFECTED EVERY YEAR, WITH A PARTICULARLY HIGH PREVALENCE 

IN POOR TROPICAL REGIONS. IT IS AN IMPORTANT PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM WORLDWIDE AND CAN OCCUR AT ANY AGE AFFECTING BOTH MALE AND FEMALE.                                                             HUMANS DISCOVERED THIS MITE IN THE 17TH CENTURY AND SCABIES MITE HAS BEEN MENTIONED EVEN IN THE OLD TESTAMENTS OF MANY BOOKS OF SHAKESPEARE YOU WOULD BE SURPRISED TO KNOW THAT HUMAN SCABIES WAS THE FIRST DISEASE IN WHICH THE CAUSATIVE ORGANISM WAS DISCOVERED USING A MICROSCOPE. THIS MITE IS OVAL, PEARL-LIKE WHITE ORGANISM WITH LOTS OF LEGS AND SPECIAL STRUCTURES ON THEIR LEGS KNOWN AS SUCKERS. AT A TIME 10-12 MITES CAN INFECT AN INDIVIDUAL. THE LIFE CYCLE OF A MITE IS COMPLETED ENTIRELY ON HUMAN SKIN, AND IT STARTS WHEN A PREGNANT MITE ATTACHES ON THE HUMAN SKIN. THIS FEMALE MITE DUGS UP A TUNNEL LIKE STRUCTURE ON THE HUMAN SKIN WHICH IS KNOWN AS A BURROW. THIS BURROW CAN BE UP TO 1CM LONG AND THE MITE LAYS HER EGGS ALONG THIS BURROW. EACH MITE CAN LAY UP TO 50 EGGS DURING HER LIFE CYCLE. THESE EGGS HATCH INTO LARVAE IN 3-4 DAYS AND ESCAPE THE BURROW. THE LARVAE THEN TRANSFORM INTO THE NEXT STAGE IN THEIR LIFE CYCLE KNOWN AS NYMPHS AND IN THE NEXT 4-7 DAYS THESE NYMPHS MATURE INTO ADULT MALES AND FEMALES, HENCE COMPLETING THE CYCLE. THE BURROWS OF THE MITES ARE OFTEN VISIBLE AS VERY THIN LINES ABOUT 1 CENTIMETER LONG. OFTEN, SCRATCHING OF THE ITCHY BURROWS RESULTS IN A BACTERIAL INFECTION OF THE SKIN SO-CALLED SECONDARY BACTERIAL INFECTION. THE SCABIES MITE ARE CAPABLE OF SURVIVING IN THE ENVIRONMENT, OUTSIDE OF THE HUMAN BODY, FOR UP TO 3 DAYS IN NORMAL ROOM CONDITIONS. SCABIETIC INFESTATION CAN BE CLASSIFIED INTO- CLASSICAL SCABIES WHICH IS THE MOST COMMON FORM SEEN AND ABOUT WHICH WE WILL DISCUSS SHORTLY. NEXT IS ANIMAL TRANSMITTED SCABIES IT IS ACQUIRED FROM ANIMALS LIKE DOGS, HORSES, ETC AND LASTLY CRUSTED SCABIES OR NORWEGIAN SCABIES- HERE THE HOST MAY BE COLONIZED WITH MANY MILLIONS OF MITES. IT IS THE MOST SEVERE ONE AND AFFECT THOSE WITH A WEAKENED IMMUNE SYSTEM (CAUSED BY [HIV], BLOOD CANCER, OR CHRONIC USE OF STEROIDS OR OTHER DRUGS THAT SUPPRESS THE IMMUNE SYSTEM. NOW WE WILL DISCUSS ABOUT THE RISK FACTORS FOR TRANSMISSION OF SCABIES. RISK FACTOR FOR TRANSMISSION INCLUDE POVERTY, OVER-CROWDING, POOR HYGIENE, POOR NUTRITIONAL STATUS, HOMELESS PEOPLE, DEMENTIA AND IMMUNOSUPPRESSION. YOU CAN GET SCABIES BY COMING IN PHYSICAL CONTACT (SEXUAL OR NON SEXUAL) FOR A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF TIME WITH SOMEONE WHO HAS SCABIES OR YOU CAN ALSO GET SCABIES BY USING THE SAME TOWELS, BEDDING, CLOTHES OR OTHER FOMITES USED BY SOMEONE WHO HAS SCABIES. HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU HAVE SCABIES? SO, LET’S TALK ABOUT THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF SCABIES: • IT CAN BE ASYMPTOMATIC FOR THE FIRST COUPLE OF WEEKS BUT • THE HALLMARK OF THE SCABIES IS SEVERE ITCHING THAT USUALLY WORSENS AT NIGHT AND TYPICALLY APPEARS 4 TO 6 WEEKS AFTER INITIAL INFESTATION • IN ADDITION TO ITCHING, YOU CAN HAVE SKIN LESION IN THE FORM OF TINY RED BUMPS THAT ARE USUALLY PRESENT OVER THE WEBS OF FINGERS, INNER ASPECTS OF WRISTS, UNDERARMS, UMBILICUS AND PERIUMBILICAL REGION, GENITALIA AND UPPER THIGHS. • IT CAN BE ANYWHERE ON THE BODY EXCEPT ON AN ADULT’S FACE, BUT IN INFANTS AND ELDERLY ALL SKIN SURFACES ARE SUSCEPTIBLE. • PATIENT ALSO GIVES A HISTORY OF SIMILAR COMPLAINTS IN FAMILY MEMBERS AND CLOSE CONTACTS. NOW LET’S TALK ABOUT HOW IS SCABIES DIAGNOSED. DIAGNOSIS IS MOSTLY CLINICAL ANDIS BASED ON TYPICAL SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS THAT WE HAVE DISCUSSED PREVIOUSLY IN THIS VIDEO. TYPICAL SYMPTOMS, TYPICAL SITE INVOLVEMENT, TYPICAL APPEARANCE OF THE SKIN LESIONS, ALL OF WHICH WE HAVE ALREADY DISCUSSED IN THE EARLIER HALF OF THE VIDEO. ALSO NOT TO FORGET HISTORY OF SIMILAR COMPLAINTS IN THE FAMILY MEMBERS OR CLOSE CONTACTS. DEFINITIVE DIAGNOSIS IS MADE BY MICROSCOPIC IDENTIFICATION OF THE SCABIES MITES, EGGS, OR FECAL PELLETS ALSO KNOWN AS SCYBLA.