infectious diseases

Practical indications to be adopted in case of scabies

Take a shower or bath daily, rubbing intensely all over the skin to eliminate superficial scales, before applying the topical scabicide medicine recommended by your doctor.

Avoid bodily contact as much as possible until healing: scabies is a contagious disease and the person who has contracted the parasite must stay a few days in isolation to avoid transmitting the Sarcoptes scabiei mite to others.

Treatment against scabies must also be carried out simultaneously by people in close contact with the patient.

Underwear, mattress covers, sheets and pillowcases must be changed (avoiding shaking them so as not to spread the mites) and washed at 60 ° C every day, at least until the end of the treatment.

All items of clothing worn should be washed at 60 ° C or dry; clothes that cannot be washed in the washing machine should be placed in waterproof plastic bags and hermetically sealed for 2 weeks; alternatively, they can be placed for 24 hours at a temperature below 10 ° C (in the refrigerator or outside during the winter).

To disinfest the house (sofas, upholstered armchairs, mattresses and floors) it is advisable to use high temperature steam jet instruments.

After recovery from scabies, itching may persist due to developed hypersensitivity; in this case, it is advisable to use cortisone and antihistamines.