4/25/07
The Transmission Of Scabies And The Means To Prevent It
Author: Rodney Kadel
Sarcoptes scabiei, the scabies mites, are microscopic infectious organisms that live on human or animal bodies and depend on them for survival that create the highly contagious skin condition scabies, or, as people call it "the human itch". Although this condition is not related to gender or age so it can affect anyone, it is more common among children because they are more likely to encounter the parasitic mites that cause it in all the environments they attend: on the playground where they can play with insalubrious objects or domestic animals - especially those with big fur, in school, kindergarten, nursing centers, where they can interact with other infected children.
Children encounter more often scabies than adults but they also deal more easily with the condition than adults or people with underlying immune system deficiencies, especially persons suffering from AIDS. The healing process takes less time and the symptoms are less intense in children after eliminating the mites (excepting infants and babies which develop lesions and more severe irritations of the skin).
Proper body hygiene can sometimes eliminate the scabies infestation if it is found in an incipient phase, but it is not the case if the scabies is found in a more advanced stage like after it has infested skin areas of the body as feet, knees, ankles, armpits, elbows, genital area or lower abdomen. In this case, a good hygiene can only slow down the process but not eliminate the infestation. The best ways to avoid this kind of infestation would be avoiding the interaction with other people who are already infested and show symptoms like rash, skin inflammation, irritation or blisters, avoiding close contact with animals, especially furry ones, avoiding contact with dirty insalubrious objects. It would be very hard to establish a mean of prevention for scabies because the mites are found in numerous places in nature.
Getting in contact with contaminated personal objects or clothes of a person that has been infested with scabies is the most common way of transmitting this condition. These parasitic organisms can live for a few days without feeding themselves from a host body and during this period of time they seek hidden places for shelter. Towels, clothes, shoes make a good hideout for the mites when looking for a host. To prevent spreading the scabies mites to others around them, people who are infected must properly clean their potentially contaminated clothes and personal objects with hot water.
Some other common ways of transmission of the scabies mites in adults are hand shake and sexual contact. Taking into consideration that the genital area is the most proper for the mites to hide, this area is highly populated with these organisms, so it is easy to transmit the infection through sexual intercourse.
¶ 11:22 PM
Author: Rodney Kadel
Sarcoptes scabiei, the scabies mites, are microscopic infectious organisms that live on human or animal bodies and depend on them for survival that create the highly contagious skin condition scabies, or, as people call it "the human itch". Although this condition is not related to gender or age so it can affect anyone, it is more common among children because they are more likely to encounter the parasitic mites that cause it in all the environments they attend: on the playground where they can play with insalubrious objects or domestic animals - especially those with big fur, in school, kindergarten, nursing centers, where they can interact with other infected children.
Children encounter more often scabies than adults but they also deal more easily with the condition than adults or people with underlying immune system deficiencies, especially persons suffering from AIDS. The healing process takes less time and the symptoms are less intense in children after eliminating the mites (excepting infants and babies which develop lesions and more severe irritations of the skin).
Proper body hygiene can sometimes eliminate the scabies infestation if it is found in an incipient phase, but it is not the case if the scabies is found in a more advanced stage like after it has infested skin areas of the body as feet, knees, ankles, armpits, elbows, genital area or lower abdomen. In this case, a good hygiene can only slow down the process but not eliminate the infestation. The best ways to avoid this kind of infestation would be avoiding the interaction with other people who are already infested and show symptoms like rash, skin inflammation, irritation or blisters, avoiding close contact with animals, especially furry ones, avoiding contact with dirty insalubrious objects. It would be very hard to establish a mean of prevention for scabies because the mites are found in numerous places in nature.
Getting in contact with contaminated personal objects or clothes of a person that has been infested with scabies is the most common way of transmitting this condition. These parasitic organisms can live for a few days without feeding themselves from a host body and during this period of time they seek hidden places for shelter. Towels, clothes, shoes make a good hideout for the mites when looking for a host. To prevent spreading the scabies mites to others around them, people who are infected must properly clean their potentially contaminated clothes and personal objects with hot water.
Some other common ways of transmission of the scabies mites in adults are hand shake and sexual contact. Taking into consideration that the genital area is the most proper for the mites to hide, this area is highly populated with these organisms, so it is easy to transmit the infection through sexual intercourse.
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Learn what is scabies, about the symptoms of scabies and the available scabies treatment
Learn what is scabies, about the symptoms of scabies and the available scabies treatment
¶ 11:22 PM
