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[F13]Factors That Influence Perception

by Groshan Fabiola, Gro

The efficiency of existing scabies treatments depends on factors such as the patient's age and overall health, the accuracy of the diagnosis, the stage of progression of the skin disease and the speed of medical intervention. While the treatment of scabies is usually efficient in eradicating the infestation with scabies mites in healthy patients, killing the intruding parasitic organisms in at most 10 days of correct administration, existing scabies treatments are less efficient when administered to very young patients (infants and babies), elderly patients and patients with impaired immune system. Such categories of patients generally require a longer course of scabicide medications (medications that kill the parasitic scabies mites), which should be administered both under the form of creams, gels and lotions for external use and oral capsules or tablets (to maximize efficiency).

It is important to understand that even if the infestation with scabies mites is rapidly eradicated, the symptoms of scabies may persist for as well as 14 days after the mites have been killed. This is primarily due to the fact that scabicides are aimed at eliminating the cause of scabies, not its effects (such medications kill the scabies mites but rarely include pharmaceutical agents that control the existing symptoms of scabies). Secondarily, even with the help of medications that are aimed at controlling scabies rash, inflammation, discomfort, soreness and itch, such symptoms can persist until the body skin completely eliminates the mites? toxic carcasses, inactive eggs, secretions and feces which continue to produce allergic reactions.

The accuracy and the speed of diagnosis have a very important role in the treatment of scabies. Considering that scabies produces a wide variety of non-specific symptoms (rash and skin inflammation are also symptoms of other skin conditions such as eczema, dermatitis or chicken pox), doctors may sometimes decide upon an erroneous diagnosis if they only rely on patients? reports of symptoms and clinical examinations. Scabies can be properly diagnosed only after finding clear signs of infestation with scabies mites. In order to reveal conclusive evidence of the mites? presence on a patient's skin, doctors often take a sample of affected skin for elaborate analysis under the microscope (the procedure is simple and painless, as only a superficial layer of skin is collected for analysis). If the skin samples contain mite eggs or feces squeezed in tiny borrows, then the patient is diagnosed with scabies and is given the appropriate treatment.

While a timely prescribed treatment is more efficient in eradicating the infestation with scabies mites (the mites are killed before they have the chance to proliferate) and prevents the intensification of existing symptoms, a lately prescribed treatment may have decreased potency (due to formation of crust at the surface of the affected skin, crust that prevents the local treatment from being properly absorbed into the skin). In addition, an early prescribed scabies treatment can neutralize the contagious character of scabies, preventing the mites from contaminating other persons who interact with the afflicted patient. Thus, speed of medical intervention is crucial in the treatment of scabies.

In the treatment of scabies, factors like the age of the patient, the overall health, the stage of progression of the skin condition, the accuracy of the diagnosis and the promptness of the medical intervention are crucial and can make the difference between an efficient treatment and a not efficient one. In healthy patients, the eradication of the parasitic mites, takes 10 days of properly administrated treatment while the treatment for existing scabies in other categories of patients is slower. For people with affected immune system, for young children and old people the treatment for eradicating the scabies mites is less efficient. For those categories of patients, the treatments are more laborious and require a longer period of administration until the effects are reached. The prescriptions will include both external use medications (creams, gels and lotions) and oral use medications (capsules or tablets) for a greater efficiency.

All the patients should take into consideration that the treatment for scabies means eliminating the scabies mites and not alleviating the symptoms. It is very rarely that a medicine for scabies mites includes other pharmaceutical agents to control the existing symptoms of the condition. The symptoms of scabies may persist for as long as two weeks after the mites were killed. One of the reasons for this effect is that even if the treatment includes medicines meant to control the symptoms, those will not stop showing until the organism will eliminate the toxic elements that produce the actual allergic reactions, which remained from the activity of the mites: feces, saliva, inactive eggs, dead mites or their carcasses.

The timing in diagnosing the scabies is of crucial importance. The sooner the diagnosis is reached, the better the body will response to the treatment. Also the accuracy of the diagnosis matters because it is hard for a doctor to reach the correct diagnosis based on the clinical examination and the patient's reports of the symptoms. The symptoms may lead to a different diagnosis like eczema, chicken pox or dermatitis because of the unspecific character of the symptoms. A correct and reliable diagnosis can only be concluded after clear signs of scabies mites' infestation have been found. These signs can be found after a thorough examination under the microscope of a sample from the affected skin area for mites' eggs or feces. However, this procedure is not painful or difficult for the patient because the sample is collected from the superficial layers of the infected skin.

The difference between a treatment given in the early stages of the infestation, when the mites are killed before they get the chance to reproduce and proliferate and a late prescribed treatment is that after the disease has spread and the skin has been infested, the external use medicines with local effects will not be efficient due to the formation of crusts over the infested skin protecting against a proper absorption of the medication into the skin, canceling thus its effect. Also, if the treatment is prescribed in an early stage, the contagious character of the disease is canceled, giving the possibility of protecting the people around the patient. This is the relation and the importance between the speed of the diagnosis and treatment and the effects of the treatment.

Article Source : Pg. 194

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Both Groshan Fabiola & Rodney Kadel are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Groshan Fabiola has sinced written about articles on various topics from Woman Menopause, Medical Condition and Health. For more resources on different related issues like. Groshan Fabiola's top article generates over 6120000 views. to your Favourites.

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