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Book

Scabies

In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan.
.
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Book

Scabies

Rachel L. Murray et al.
Free Books & Documents

Excerpt

Scabies is a contagious skin condition resulting from the infestation of a mite. The Sarcoptes scabiei mite burrows within the skin and causes severe itching. This itch is relentless, especially at night. Skin-to-skin contact transmits the infectious organism therefore, family members and skin contact relationships create the highest risk. Scabies was declared a neglected skin disease by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2009 and is a significant health concern in many developing countries. Infested individuals require identification and prompt treatment because a misdiagnosis can lead to outbreaks, morbidity, and an increased economic burden .

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: Rachel Murray declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Christine Ziebold declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Jonathan Crane declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

References

    1. Swe PM, Christian LD, Lu HC, Sriprakash KS, Fischer K. Complement inhibition by Sarcoptes scabiei protects Streptococcus pyogenes - An in vitro study to unravel the molecular mechanisms behind the poorly understood predilection of S. pyogenes to infect mite-induced skin lesions. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2017 Mar;11(3):e0005437. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Micali G, Lacarrubba F, Verzì AE, Chosidow O, Schwartz RA. Scabies: Advances in Noninvasive Diagnosis. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2016 Jun;10(6):e0004691. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kandi V. Laboratory Diagnosis of Scabies Using a Simple Saline Mount: A Clinical Microbiologist's Report. Cureus. 2017 Mar 19;9(3):e1102. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Stamm LV, Strowd LC. Ignoring the "Itch": The Global Health Problem of Scabies. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2017 Dec;97(6):1647-1649. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Vasanwala FF, Ong CY, Aw CWD, How CH. Management of scabies. Singapore Med J. 2019 Jun;60(6):281-285. - PMC - PubMed

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