Patient/caregiver was educated on pathophysiology of scabies as follows:
- Scabies is a skin infection caused by a microscopic mite, Sarcoptes scabiei, resulting in a red itchy rash.
- Scabies is highly contagious and can be passed on from one person to another through direct skin contact and contact with infested clothing, furniture, & bedsheets.
- Scabies is usually more frequent in crowded conditions, such as, schools, student dorms, correction facilities, group homes, and nursing facilities, with increased risk for contact with individuals and shared surfaces.
- Once infected, these small mites continue to live on the skin, multiply, and burrow into the skin. The mites can lay eggs and excrete the feces into the tunnels they create during their burrowing into the skin.
- The burrowing of the mite with deposition of fecal material and eggs in the tunnels made on the surface of skin result in the development of allergic response, with intense itching, rash, and blisters oozing out fluid. The organism can be more active during the night, with increased itching during late hours.
- Scabies infection can involve any part of the skin on human body but is more common on the web skin between the fingers and toes, waistline, inner thigh, groin area, and armpits.
- This infection is difficult to treat, as the organism burrows into the skin, which offers protection to treatment.
- Also, the intense itching and scratching of the skin can result in irritated skin that can be easily prone for secondary bacterial infections, thus complicating the treatment and outcome.
