Scabies is a skin disease that can be spread from person to person. Scabies is caused by a small insect or mite known as S. scabiei var. This mite is about the size of a pinhead and can live only 2-3 days at room temperature apart from the human body. It burrows into the outer layer of skin and lays eggs, which hatch in 3-5 days. After hatching, the newly-formed mites leave the burrow and move to other skin surfaces and repeat the cycle.
Contaminated articles can be the source of infection.
Items such as clothing, bed linens, and blankets are common sources. The most common symptoms are severe itching and grayish-white lines or tracks that zigzag on the skin surface. Areas of the body most commonly affected are the sides of the fingers, webs between the fingers, wrists, elbows, armpits, buttocks, knees and feet. A person never before infested with scabies may not develop symptoms for a month or more. A previously infested person will develop symptoms within 24 hours.