Scabies is a skin disease that has been known since antiquity and was originally thought to be a severely itchy eczema of unclear cause. About a hundred years ago, the Austrian dermatologist Hebra found out the real cause: a spider, which has focused on humans as a parasite.
It is so tiny (0.4 millimeters) that you can hardly see it with the naked eye. Sarcoptes hominis, as it is called, bores into the horny layer of the skin, works its way forward a few centimeters per day and lays its eggs there. This creates the mite ducts, which are diagnostically important for the dermatologist. Fortunately, since the spider needs air to breathe, it does not penetrate into deeper layers. She loves delicate regions where she can easily penetrate the horn barrier of the skin – such as the genital area, the breast, the armpits or between the fingers.
When it gets comfortably warm and you snuggle up under the blanket, the female swarms out to copulate with the male. This leads to severe itching and robs us of sleep. While the males soon die off, the hardy females can survive for several months. If a pregnant female is transmitted to her playmate through direct skin contact – as is often the case in kindergarten when romping around – the initially hardly noticeable spread can progress and torment entire families and communities.
So when scabies is diagnosed, all contacts must be treated at the same time. Otherwise there is a risk that the so-called ping-pong effect will set in for months and the circus will seem to never end. Permethrin and Ivermectin are the drugs we have available for therapy. Your doctor will educate you about the importance of consistent treatment.
Do you have questions about health?
Write to OÖN doctor Johannes Neuhofer (dermatologist), who oversees this column with a team of doctors: Clemens Steinwender (cardiologist), Reinhold Függer (surgeon), Rainer Schöfl (gastroenterologist), Josef Hochreiter (orthopaedist), Werner Schöny (psychiatrist).
E-mail: doktor@nachrichten.at
Source: Nachrichten
