Scabies

Prevention

To help prevent scabies:

• Avoid sharing clothing and towels.

• If your child goes to sleepover parties, provide a sleeping bag, pillow and blanket from home.

• If someone in your household has been diagnosed with scabies, wash his or her clothing, bedding and towels in hot water and dry these items in a hot dryer. This should kill all scabies mites and eggs. Clothing that cannot be washed should be sealed and stored for approximately one week, because scabies mites die within one to four days if not in contact with human skin.

Treatment

Your doctor can treat scabies with various topical (applied to the skin) medications, including permethrin (Nix, Elimite), lindane (Kwell, Scabene), crotamiton (Eurax), and, in infants and other sensitive people, sulfur in petroleum. The choice of a specific medication is influenced by a person's age, pregnancy, the presence of coexisting skin conditions, and medical history. Scabies medications usually are applied from neck to toe after bathing, allowed to remain on the skin for eight to 14 hours, and then washed off. In some cases, a second application is necessary, depending on the type of medication used and your symptoms. Ivermectin (Stromectol) is an oral medication that also treats scabies effectively. It is given as a single oral dose followed by a repeat dose two weeks later.

To help control itching, simple topical agents such as calamine lotion can be applied. If the itching keeps you awake, diphenhydramine (Benadryl) taken by mouth may be advised.

All sex partners, family members, and close contacts of someone with scabies must be treated for the infestation, even if they have no symptoms.