Is scabies contagious? Yes, very much so! In fact, it’s so contagious that doctors usually recommend if one person in your household has scabies, all members of the home should be treated for the condition. If one person in the home has scabies, the likelihood is extremely high that all members of the household will get it, too. Even if you don’t have any symptoms, you could already have the condition. It can take a few weeks for symptoms to appear.
Causes of Scabies
Scabies is a condition caused by a tiny mite called Sarcoptes scabiei. The mites burrow under the skin and feed on the blood of their human host. The female mites lay eggs beneath the skin and mites of both genders deposit their feces under the skin. Allergic reactions to the mites and their feces are the causes of scabies symptoms, including severe itching and the tell-tale scabies rash.
Just a few mites can cause severe symptoms; according to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), most people with scabies only have 15 or 20 mites under their skin at any given time. Unfortunately, without treatment, the mites reproduce and the condition gets worse. Scratching the rash can also spread scabies to other areas of the body.
How is Scabies Contagious?
Scabies is typically transmitted through close personal contact with someone that has it. While prolonged contact, such as sleeping in the same bed with someone that has it, increases the risk, you can get scabies through less personal contact, like hugging someone that has it or just by shaking hands.
Wearing clothing or using bath towels or bed linens recently used by someone that has the condition are other causes of scabies transmission. You might also get it by sitting on furniture recently used by someone that has scabies. Scabies mites can only live for a day or two without a human host, so you’ll only get it that way if the items were recently used by someone with the condition.
Unfortunately, it’s possible to be infected with scabies for up to several weeks before you develop symptoms and it is possible to transmit scabies to others during that time. For this reason, it’s generally recommended that when someone is diagnosed with scabies, everyone in the home, as well as anyone else they’ve had close personal contact with, be treated for the condition even if they have no symptoms yet.
Treatment And Prevention of Scabies
Now that you understand why the scabies contagious risk is so high, you understand why it’s important to get treatment for scabies if you’ve been around anyone with the condition even if you don’t have symptoms. Doctors typically prescribe medicated lotion for this purpose, the same lotion they prescribe for people that have symptoms of scabies. These lotions usually contain pesticides, though, which can have unwanted side effects. That’s why we prefer natural treatment for scabies.
Our preferred natural treatment is Naturasil. The liquid scabies treatment is made from all-natural plant extracts. You add the liquid to bathwater and when you soak in the bath, the homeopathic treatment is absorbed into your skin where it kills the scabies mites. You can use Naturasil if you have symptoms of scabies or if you’ve been exposed but don’t have any symptoms yet. Because the scabies contagious risk is so great, we recommend treating all members of your household with Naturasil even if some don’t have any symptoms yet.
If you do have symptoms of scabies, such as a rash or itchiness, Naturasil also offers a skin cream you can apply after bathing to help relieve the itching and discomfort. It’s also made from all-natural plant extracts. To learn more about our preferred natural treatment for scabies, just follow this link to the Naturasil Website.