SCABIES Treatment

Scabies is due to a mite, Acorns scabies. The female burrows superficially in the skin to lay her eggs. The infestation is derived from close contact with another person suffering from the disease, and in families it spreads readily. Animal scabies causes only a transient eruption in humans. The prominent part of the eruption, which is very itchy, is an ide resulting from the development of hypersensitivity to the products of infestation but it is necessary to treat the whole body surface—excluding the head—to be certain of a cure. All affected members of the family must be treated simultaneously. Benzyl benzoate application B.P. is applied to the whole surface of the body below the chin on three occasions at 12-hour intervals. Twelve hours after the last application the patients should have a bath, put on clean underclothes and change their sheets.

They should now be cured of the infestation but will probably continue to itch for some weeks. They should be treated with calamine liniment or some similar bland application, and mild silver proteinate B.P.C. can be added in ¼ per cent. strength if secondary infection is present. Children should be treated with the half-strength application, that is I 2½ per cent. benzyl benzoate, and babies (whose heads must also be treated) with quarter-strength sulphur ointment B.P. (2½ per cent. of sulphur). Any accompanying sepsis of the skin must wait until the anti-scabetic treatment has been applied. Crotamiton N.F. will also cure scabies, although the drug is designed for the relief of irritation.