Understanding The Increased Incidence of Scabies
Scabies is a skin condition determined by a microscopic parasite called Sarcoptes scabiei. This condition is highly contagious and can be contracted directly from infested people or indirectly, from infected objects. The mites that produce scabies can live for a number of days without a host body. Recent studies have shown that the indirect method of contamination, from infected objects, is very rare.
After the scabies mites reach a human host, they start populating and reproducing. They hide in less exposed areas of the body and lay their eggs in the skin folds, between fingers and toes, under the nails, in the pubic area, in the area of the buttocks and in the upper back, elbows and armpits. In the early stages of the infestations, the symptoms are itch, rash and inflammations; while in the later stages, the symptoms may go as far as ulcerations of the skin, lesions, blisters, painful nodules, crust and pustules. The symptoms of the scabies are actually allergic reactions of the skin to the toxic waste of the mites. When the symptoms of scabies are persistent and advanced, the lesions of the skin make it vulnerable to other bacterial or fungal infections. If not treated right, this condition can worsen and lead to more severe conditions of the skin.
Scabies doesn't concern of age, gender or any other physical differences between humans so it can be found on any hosts. However, this condition was widely spread among the patients in hospitals, especially those suffering from mental disorders. Overcrowded places like hospitals, nursing homes or asylums are at greater risk to develop serious endemics because of the low mobility of their patients, the poor awareness and the delayed medical support offered by the medical staff. If one patient acquires the scabies condition, this can easily be spread in the whole facility.
Some of the leading factors of spreading this condition in mental facilities are poor monitoring of the patients and medical neglecting. There are many cases of mentally disturbed patients that are diagnosed with scabies after a long time since they encountered the condition, when the symptoms are in very advanced stages and this makes the process of healing harder.
Many studies have been made over the past few decades to discover whether there is any kind of connection or any physiological predisposal between the mentally impaired patients and the high incidence of scabies in this category of people. Specialists say that their researches have shown no proof what so ever in this matter. The results were pointing to environmental factors only for the high incidence of scabies in mental facilities.