Scabies are generally transmitted through intimate skin to skin contact, such as sleeping together with an infected individual. The disease is a type of skin disease which is highly infectious. It is caused by a microscopic mite scientifically known as sarcoptes scabei and characterized by an inflammation.



The mites do not fly or jump and just move very slowly. They can exist outside a human host up to four days. At this time, they can be transferred to humans through infested household items, clothes, sheets and other personal items.

The human body sets off heat and a smell that attracts the itch mite. The female mite lands into the skin and burrows tiny tunnels where it can lay its eggs. The burrows are sometimes observable through the naked eye.

A healthy person can be contaminated by prolonged, intimate contact with a person that is infested. One can also have the mites by handling items that have been used or clothing materials that have been worn by the infested person.

The mite can penetrate the skin with ease, particularly in rough wrinkled areas of the skin, such as the knees, elbows, and between fingers.

After going under the skin, a female mite can lay up to twenty eggs before it dies. Those eggs laid under the skin will transform into larva three days later. The larva moves on the surface of the skin and they become adults after fourteen to seventeen days later. The whole cycle continues until the itchy mites are destroyed.

The itch mites will only infect humans and not our animal pets, and vice versa. The animal mites will stay on the animals since they cannot exist and reproduce on the human body.

Nevertheless, the animal mites can stay under the skin for a time long enough to cause itch and allergies but the mite will eventually expire without laying eggs. Since scabies are highly contagious, a healthy person can still be infected by a person who appears to have been healed of his/her infestation. However, if treatment was not properly administered, then the mites will not be fully exterminated. It might take several weeks before the symptoms resurface.

Right before the re-emergence of the symptoms, the patient is highly contagious because this is also the mite's incubation period. Symptoms of the infectation become more significant after taking a bath in the evening. You could mistake the infested skin area for dry skin, because it resembles dry skin.

Itching can be brought about by the person's allergic reaction to the mite. For children and the elderly, even more acute itchiness might be experienced.

The skin will produce pimply rashes at the skin surface. This is because of the tunnels dug under the skin by the mites. A small black spot can be seen at the end of the burrow, which is actually the mite itself.