Highlights & Basics
- Scabies is highly contagious via direct skin-to-skin contact. It is most common in overcrowded living conditions and in developing countries.
- Caused by Sarcoptes scabiei, a 0.3- to 0.5-mm mite that can burrow and deposit eggs in the human stratum corneum.
- Microscopic visualization of mites, their eggs, or feces in skin scrapings is helpful but not essential to initiation of treatment.
- Most popular treatment options include topical permethrin and oral ivermectin.
- Primarily considered a nuisance in the developed world. Children in the developing world can contract secondary streptococcal infection in their skin lesions, with potential complications of rheumatic heart disease or poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis.
Quick Reference
History & Exam
Key Factors
Other Factors
Diagnostics Tests
Treatment Options
Definition
Epidemiology
Etiology
Pathophysiology
Images
Scabies mite under 10× power
Histologic section showing an adult Sarcoptes scabiei in its burrow in the stratum corneum
Penile nodules, characteristic of scabies
Characteristic linear burrows in skin
Hyperkeratotic palms in a patient with Norwegian scabies
Eggs and stool under 10× power
Classic dermoscopic image of triangle or "delta wing jet" sign of dense scabies head parts (long red arrow), relatively translucent scabies body (long black arrow), scabies eggs (short red arrows), and classic S-shaped burrow
Classic dermoscopic image of triangle or "delta wing jet" sign of dense scabies head parts (long red arrow), relatively translucent scabies body (long black arrow), scabies eggs (short red arrows), and classic S-shaped burrow
Citations
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Strong M, Johnstone PW. Interventions for treating scabies. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2007 Jul 18;(3):CD000320.[Abstract][Full Text]
Rosumeck S, Nast A, Dressler C. Ivermectin and permethrin for treating scabies. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018 Apr 2;(4):CD012994.[Abstract][Full Text]
Johnstone P, Strong M. Scabies. Clin Evid. 2006 Jun;(15):2284-90.[Abstract]
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