scabies causes
Scabies causes
Scabies is caused by a mite called Saroptes scabiej that is attracted to warmth and the scent of humans. The female mites use the human skin as a breeding ground by burrowing and tunneling in the flesh to lay their eggs. They leave their feces in the tunnels they create. The itching of the skin is due to the constant burrowing in the skin.
Scabies is very contagious and spreads with direct contact with individuals with scabies as well as materials such as towels bedding and clothing that have been in contact with the person carrying the mites. Scabies move very slowing and do not jump or fly.
Scabies live up to thirty-six hours without human contact. This means they can survive in the furniture car seats and bedding of the person that has scabies. It is during this time the scabies tend to seek another human to inhabit. Generally scabies is spread through direct skin-to-skin contact.
Scabies once attaching to a human burrow quickly under the skin. They tend to thrive in rough wrinkled or moist skin. They usually begin the elbows knuckles knees and wrists. They are spread faster on the body due the person scratching the areas and transferring the mites to other areas of the body.
Once the female burrows into the skin she will lay up to twenty-five eggs before dying. The eggs take about three days to hatch into larvae. In fourteen days the larvae become an adult and repeat the life cycle. During the time the larvae is becoming an adult it will move to upper layers of the skin and the surface. This increases the itching and red spots or bumps on the body.
Scabies is highly contagious. The incubation period from time of exposure to outbreak can be up to three weeks. The people with previous exposure or outbreaks take shorter to show signs. Anyone that is contagious will spread the scabies even when they are up going treatment until the mites are killed. This is the incubation period.
