Scabies??

[rawbanana]

Has anyone here dealt with it? My neighbor told me on Friday that her 2yd old was diagnosed with it that day. Here's a little background. This little boy has had pretty much a trunk/arms/legs rash since May that doctors always tell her is allergy related but they cant figure out what to. It gets a little better, gets worse and so on. Finally it got really bad last week so she took him in (again) and they told her it was scabies (she said they just looked at it and told her, didn't do a scrape test). I've been over in their backyard 4-5x a week the last few months and I check him over almost everytime (out of curiousity) and to me, the rash never changed in look, same looking rash but just much worse. They told her to have her and all her kiddos (she has 3 older girls age 10, 8 and 6) do the 'treatment' over night last Friday and they would be fine to go to school on Monday (we're still keeping our distance for a LONG time). She did say she does have to do the treatment one more time but didn't say when...We held her little boy sometimes before we found out...what is OUR risk??? Mom and the sisters never showed symptoms.

I am SO paranoid now. My 8yr old daughter has multiple allergies and basically 'broken skin' so I cant even imagine having to put some type of insecticide on her or whatever it is that they use to kill the scabies, should we happen to contract it...

Is there anything we can do proactively??

What has been your experience with it????

[LisaKinVA]

My kids have had it...twice.  Their treatment required putting on a lotion, and it was over several days (or longer).  It is contagious with prolonged skin-to-skin contact (not from a hug/handshake).   My kids were all treated, but the baby, dh and I were not (the children at that time were all sharing a room...they were little).  The doctor took a look at it and said that was what it was.  It itches pretty badly.  I'm half wondering if my middle son has it again...but if he does, he's the only one.  His elbows just don't look right to me.

 

You could call your pediatrician's nurse line and tell him/her that your family has been exposed and go from there.  Treatment does require a prescription.

[PrairieSong]

YES. Our oldest dd brought this back from a summer trip to India. She was volunteering and most likely picked it up from a patient. She spread it to a younger brother. Her dermatologist did a scrape test and let us see the nasty critter under the microscope. We had to treat the whole family. I had to wash all bedding. Everyone had to shower and slather on a special prescription lotion. Then I had to wash all clothing and towels we had used. We only did it once. I know little about prevention though. IIRC you have to have contact to get them, either with a person directly or with clothing they've worn.

[Starr]

This child has had them since May and no one else in his family has them? That aside if you don't have them yet I wouldn't worry but see a doctor if there are any signs.

[sassenach]

This child has had them since May and no one else in his family has them? That aside if you don't have them yet I wouldn't worry but see a doctor if there are any signs.

I find that diagnosis hard to believe for this reason.  I'd advise the mom to get a scrape test.  For yourselves, there's a telltale pattern that scabies starts with (evenly spaces bites in a row).  I'd just keep a lookout for that.  The treatment is a lotion that basically has to go on the whole body, neck down, several days in a row.  

[Tap]

Ds got them around age 7.  We think he got them from a hotel room.  He had them for months and had been to 2 or 3 doctors who misdiagnosed him as having a excema and then giving him 2 courses of antibiotics for staff infection in the spots where he scratched them raw. :0/  We finally got into a dermatologist who took one look at him and diagnosed him within minutes.  He showed him ds's hand, specifically the webbing skin between the thumb and forefinger.  It had little squiggly white lines on it. He said that they were the tracks from the scabies under the skin and that on that part of the skin, it was just extra easy to see them.  One treatment for all of us (lotion spread over the skin at night and washed off in the morning) and a whole house cleaning (just like you would do for lice) and a second treatment a week later and he was completely better.   He had them for months, and none of us got it from him.  

[jelbe5]

My daughter had them at age 2. We think she got them from a petting zoo we had recently visited. My dd and dh did the cream - I did not since I was pregnant with #2. Washed bedding, etc. Neither dh or I got them.

[rawbanana]

Thanks for the help ladies. I'm keeping my kiddos away for the full 6 week incubation period just to be on the safe side....*shudder*...

Does anyone know, can you only get scabies from other people or from anything else (We've heard you can get them from handling empty cicada skins)

[derbygirl]

I had to deal with them regularly in a group home I worked at.  You can rub a sharpie marker over a patch of skin you are concerned about and then remove it with an alcohol  pad and you may be able to see the little tunnels the beasties leave behind just under the first layer of skin. It is contagious via articles like fabric. In our case everything went through a hot water wash and drier or went into storage for several months. Freezers could also be used but I cannot remember how long belongings need to stay in the freezer. Be prepared to feel itchy, really crazy itchy, not because you have scabies but just because you are thinking about them.

[Cammie]

Yup - I got it when I was working in a youth hostel in DC after I graduated from college.  I don't remember it being very difficult to deal with.  Slather with lotion and wash all the bedding.  They went away fast.  I don't think it is as big a deal as trying to get rid of lice, for example.