Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsHow It SpreadsHow Long It’s ContagiousCausesDiagnosisTreatmentPreventionFrequently Asked Questions
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
How It Spreads
How Long It’s Contagious
Causes
Diagnosis
Treatment
Prevention
Frequently Asked Questions
You can catchscabiesthrough close skin contact with an infected person.Since symptoms often become noticeable only after a period of infestation, a person can spread scabies before they know they have it. Only prescription medications can kill the mites.
This article discusses how scabies spreads. It also explains ways to diagnose, treat, and prevent the disease.
Kinga Krzeminska / Getty Images
How Does Scabies Spread?
Scabies is usually passed from an infected person to others during prolonged, direct skin-to-skin contact like holding hands. It takes about 10 minutes of contact for the mite to pass from the infected host to another person.
Scabies is easily passed among people who share the same household. Scabies infestations can be found in places where people interact and live in crowded conditions. This includes childcare centers, hospitals, and assisted living facilities, where staff can spread the disease from one person to another.
While animals can become infected with a form of scabies, calledmange, it involves a different type of mite that can’t reproduce on humans.
Though uncommon, scabies can be passed from contact with the bedding, clothes, and furniture of an infected person. This indirect transmission is more likely to occur when the infected person has crusted scabies, a form of the disease in which there are large numbers of scabies mites and eggs. Crusted scabies is more common among people who have a weakenedimmune systemorneurological disease.
What Causes Scabies?
How Long Is Scabies Contagious?
If you have scabies, you’re considered contagious until you receive your first treatment. You can pass scabies to another person from the time you’re infested with the mites until you begin treatment.
The time between infestation and symptoms is called the incubation period. The first time you have scabies, it can take four to eight weeks for symptoms to appear. If you’ve previously had a scabies infection, symptoms typically emerge within four days after exposure.
Once you are infected, you can spread the disease even if you don’t have symptoms.
Symptoms of Scabies
Scabies Causes
The eggs hatch and create new adults that burrow within two weeks. Their babies maintain the cycle of burrowing and egg-laying until the entire infestation is treated.
Your immune system recognizes the mites and their waste as potentially dangerous organisms, which triggers a response. This results in the itchy, red rash that is common with scabies.
Scabies Diagnosis
The distinct rash and itching that occur with scabies can be mistaken for other health problems like allergies, contactdermatitis,eczema,orpsoriasis. Since treatment is necessary to eradicate the scabies mites, it’s important to get an accurate diagnosis, so you can get the right treatment.
Contact your healthcare provider if you experience any of the following symptoms, even if you’re not aware of having had contact with someone who has scabies:
A healthcare provider’s first steps in diagnosing scabies involve getting a patient history and performing a visual examination of your skin for evidence of scabies. If you are being examined in a dermatology office, your provider may usedermoscopy, which has a lens with 10 times magnification to identify the presence of scabies.
If your diagnosis is unclear, your healthcare provider may take askin biopsyto confirm the presence of mites. In this procedure, a sample of tissue is removed to be analyzed in a laboratory.
Scabies Treatment
Eradicating scabies requires the use of prescription medications. When used as directed, research shows that these treatments produce comparable results to killing the mites without adverse reactions.
The type of drug used to treat your scabies depends on your condition and other factors, such as your current medications and other health problems. According to the CDC, the infected person and all people who had direct skin-to-skin contact with the infected person in the month before treatment should be treated at the same time to avoid reinfestation.
The following prescription medications are used to treat scabies:
Crusted scabies requires a combination of oral and topical agents that include:
Complications of ScabiesScabies usually doesn’t produce health problems other than intense itching. However, it’s possible to develop complications from scabies if you have a weakened immune system, have other health conditions, or have delayed getting treatment.Some possible complications of scabies, especially in the tropics, include:Bacterial infectionImpetigoAbscessesSepticemiaKidney diseaseRheumatic heart disease
Complications of Scabies
Scabies usually doesn’t produce health problems other than intense itching. However, it’s possible to develop complications from scabies if you have a weakened immune system, have other health conditions, or have delayed getting treatment.Some possible complications of scabies, especially in the tropics, include:Bacterial infectionImpetigoAbscessesSepticemiaKidney diseaseRheumatic heart disease
Scabies usually doesn’t produce health problems other than intense itching. However, it’s possible to develop complications from scabies if you have a weakened immune system, have other health conditions, or have delayed getting treatment.
Some possible complications of scabies, especially in the tropics, include:
Based on your condition, you may also need other medications to relieve itching and inflammation or treat an infection, such as the following:
How Scabies Is Treated
Scabies Prevention
Since scabies is spread through direct skin-to-skin contact, the most effective way to prevent scabies is to avoid this type of interaction with an infected person. However, since it’s possible to carry the mites without having symptoms, it may not be obvious that you or another person is infected.
Risk Factors for ScabiesYour best defense against scabies is to be aware of your risks. Seek medical care as soon as possible if you discover you have been exposed to scabies or develop symptoms. People in the following groups have a higher risk of getting scabies:ChildrenParents of young childrenSexually active young adultsResidents of nursing homes and other community living facilitiesHospitalized patients
Risk Factors for Scabies
Your best defense against scabies is to be aware of your risks. Seek medical care as soon as possible if you discover you have been exposed to scabies or develop symptoms. People in the following groups have a higher risk of getting scabies:ChildrenParents of young childrenSexually active young adultsResidents of nursing homes and other community living facilitiesHospitalized patients
Your best defense against scabies is to be aware of your risks. Seek medical care as soon as possible if you discover you have been exposed to scabies or develop symptoms. People in the following groups have a higher risk of getting scabies:
Identifying and treating a scabies infection as soon as possible is the best way to prevent its spread. Without treatment, the mites continue to produce eggs and the number of mites on your skin continues to grow. The examination and treatment of your household and sexual and close contacts are also necessary to avoid reinfection.
In addition to getting treatment, you and your sexual and close contacts should decontaminate all bedding, clothing and towels used within three days of starting treatment. This requires dry cleaning them, sealing them in a plastic bag for at least 72 hours, or washing the items in hot water and drying them in a hot dryer.
How to Prevent Scabies
Summary
Scabies is caused when the scabies mites burrow into the top layer of your skin to feed and lay eggs. The mites trigger an immune response that causes an intense rash and itching.
Scabies mites are passed through prolonged skin-to-skin contact with an infected person. Since symptoms often occur only after a period of infestation, a person can spread scabies before they know they have it.
It’s key to get an accurate diagnosis of scabies as soon as possible. The disease requires prescribed drugs for treatment. If you become infected, your sexual and close personal contacts should also be treated at the same time. This prevents the spread of the disease and your reinfection.
A Word From Verywell
Having scabies can be frustrating. The itching can be intense, especially at night, which can interfere with sleep. To kill the mites, it’s important to get an accurate diagnosis and treatment as soon as possible. This also reduces the risk of skin damage from scratching or rubbing to relieve the itching.
Unfortunately, scabies isn’t well understood in the United States. There is a misconception that the disease is linked to poor hygiene, which isn’t accurate. Seek support from your healthcare team on ways to avoid feeling isolated. With the right diagnosis and prompt treatment, you can quickly eradicate the disease and relieve symptoms.
A person with scabies is contagious until they begin using an approved prescription treatment. They are contagious as soon as they are infected, even before symptoms occur. As a result, a person with scabies may not realize they have the disease and are capable of passing it on to another person.Learn MoreWhat Is Scabies?
A person with scabies is contagious until they begin using an approved prescription treatment. They are contagious as soon as they are infected, even before symptoms occur. As a result, a person with scabies may not realize they have the disease and are capable of passing it on to another person.
Learn MoreWhat Is Scabies?
It’s possible to be exposed to scabies and not get infected. It usually takes at least 10 minutes of skin-to-skin contact with an infected person to catch scabies. Since the mites don’t fly or jump, it takes time for them to move from the infected person to someone else. Short, casual contact, like shaking hands or hugging an infected person, is not likely to infect you.Learn MoreCauses and Risk Factors of Scabies
It’s possible to be exposed to scabies and not get infected. It usually takes at least 10 minutes of skin-to-skin contact with an infected person to catch scabies. Since the mites don’t fly or jump, it takes time for them to move from the infected person to someone else. Short, casual contact, like shaking hands or hugging an infected person, is not likely to infect you.
Learn MoreCauses and Risk Factors of Scabies
Learn MoreHow to Prevent Scabies
9 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.World Health Organization.Scabies.Gilson RL, Crane JS.Scabies. StatPearls Publishing; 2022.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.About scabies.American Academy of Dermatology Association.Scabies: who gets and causes.Generic and Rare Diseases Information Center.Crusted scabies.American Academy of Dermatology Association.Scabies: Signs and symptoms.Dressler C, Rosumeck S, Sunderkötter C, Niklas Werner R, Nast A.The treatment of scabies. Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2016;113(45):757-762. doi:10.3238/arztebl.2016.0757.American Association of Dermatology Association.Scabies: diagnosis and treatment.American Academy of Dermatology Association.Scabies: who gets and causes.
9 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.World Health Organization.Scabies.Gilson RL, Crane JS.Scabies. StatPearls Publishing; 2022.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.About scabies.American Academy of Dermatology Association.Scabies: who gets and causes.Generic and Rare Diseases Information Center.Crusted scabies.American Academy of Dermatology Association.Scabies: Signs and symptoms.Dressler C, Rosumeck S, Sunderkötter C, Niklas Werner R, Nast A.The treatment of scabies. Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2016;113(45):757-762. doi:10.3238/arztebl.2016.0757.American Association of Dermatology Association.Scabies: diagnosis and treatment.American Academy of Dermatology Association.Scabies: who gets and causes.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
World Health Organization.Scabies.Gilson RL, Crane JS.Scabies. StatPearls Publishing; 2022.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.About scabies.American Academy of Dermatology Association.Scabies: who gets and causes.Generic and Rare Diseases Information Center.Crusted scabies.American Academy of Dermatology Association.Scabies: Signs and symptoms.Dressler C, Rosumeck S, Sunderkötter C, Niklas Werner R, Nast A.The treatment of scabies. Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2016;113(45):757-762. doi:10.3238/arztebl.2016.0757.American Association of Dermatology Association.Scabies: diagnosis and treatment.American Academy of Dermatology Association.Scabies: who gets and causes.
World Health Organization.Scabies.
Gilson RL, Crane JS.Scabies. StatPearls Publishing; 2022.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.About scabies.
American Academy of Dermatology Association.Scabies: who gets and causes.
Generic and Rare Diseases Information Center.Crusted scabies.
American Academy of Dermatology Association.Scabies: Signs and symptoms.
Dressler C, Rosumeck S, Sunderkötter C, Niklas Werner R, Nast A.The treatment of scabies. Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2016;113(45):757-762. doi:10.3238/arztebl.2016.0757.
American Association of Dermatology Association.Scabies: diagnosis and treatment.
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