Rashes can be a scary thing, especially when you know your child has been in contact with many other children at school, day-care, or extra-curricular activities. Scabies is spread through prolonged contact with the mite, Sarcoptes scabei, via a human, clothing, bedding, or towels containing the mites. (Keep in mind that pets cannot carry the same mite that infects human skin, so you dont have to worry about dogs, cats, birds, etc.) The irritation is caused by pregnant female mites burrowing into the skin to lay eggs. The trouble is, how can you tell when it's a little more than a rash? These symptoms of scabies rash can help you determine whether or not you or your child has been infected:

-Constant itching, especially when relaxing or at night
-Red, itchy bumps (may look like mosquito bites or tiny bee stings)
-Abrasion of the skin caused by scratching (irritated sores, blisters)
-Enflamed skin, especially around joints and folds (the inside of the elbows and knees, in between fingers, armpits, and between toes)

Although these symptoms are signs of scabies, you should definitely have a doctor examine the infected areas to prescribe a scabies treatment, most likely a cream that you will apply from head to toe. It is advantageous that your whole family be treated with scabies medicine at the same time to prevent a second infestation. If a doctor has confirmed that someone in your household is carrying scabies, here is what you need to do to prevent further infection:

-Wash all soft surfaces used within the past week (towels, clothing, bedding)
-Steam your carpets to remove any possible living eggs
-Take care to make as little physical human contact for the first 72 hours of treatment
-Continue treatment for the time allotted by your doctor

Scabies cannot live more than two or three days outside of the human body, so you don't need to worry about towels you used two weeks ago or bedding you folded last week. However, one should note that symptoms of scabies appear up to six weeks after the infection, so although other incidents of scabies may not have appeared at your child's school or daycare, you may want to notify a nurse at school or caretaker, just in case another child seems infected. It may be embarrassing, but it is the responsible thing to do, so treatment can be administered as quickly as possible.

Also, remember what it felt like to have chicken pox? If your child is going through something this irritating and painful, take care to reward them for mature behavior (such as not scratching and allowing treatment to be administered calmly), and do your best to sooth their frustration.

Learn more about this author, Anna Hunka.
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