# Scabies



## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

I keep reading about how so many of the Mexican children coming into our country are infected with scabies (which is contagious through skin contact or clothing), and this week a friend of mine was diagnosed with it. She'd had severe itching, rash, and tickling sensation around her neck, armpits and under her breasts, and she found the burrows in her skin before a doctor finally did a scrape and used a microscope to confirm scabies. She had been to the doctor three times and was prescribed four $$$ medicines for other conditions, which didn't help at all. He prescribed her $80 in scabies medication and wants her to come back in two weeks.

I started thinking about what we'd do if we contracted scabies and didn't have to money to go to a doctor or there wasn't a doctor available in a SHTF situation. I found a wealth of information on the Internet but wasn't surprised to find that meds from the feed store are most effective. I'm taking a trip to TSC this week to pick up some meds to have on hand.

From what I read, taking bleach-water baths helps.

Taking (eating) horse ivermectin paste is very effective.

Coating your body with Durvet Nu-Stock Ointment at night (it works on mange, which is also a mite) is also very effective. It contains sulphur, which seems to help.

Here are a couple of the links I read, with great information. One guy injected horse ivermectin from the feed store (dose adjusted by weight). Another guy took the injectible ivermectin orally and had good results. Another person suggested using the ivermectin for swine since we are closest to them in physiology. 

It's important to wash all clothes, towels and bedsheets in very hot water to prevent it spreading or reinfecting. Putting clothes and bedding in the freezer for 12 hours kills the mites, too. Some people reported spraying permethrin on upholstered furniture like sofas and chairs, to kill any mites living there.

Drinking grapefruit juice seems to help the medicines work.


http://www.greendept.com/maximpulse/permethrin/index.html

http://www.topix.com/forum/health/scabies/TQFOHEQCK5TUUM38M


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## ROSEMAMA (Jan 12, 2007)

sulfadene for dogs (mange med. shampoo). 
I remember when I was a kid our GS had a big outbreak. The local general store couldn't keep it stocked.


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## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

That's it. 
I'm done. 
We are never leaving the house again.


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## Calico Katie (Sep 12, 2003)

It seems to be hard for US doctors to diagnose, maybe because it's not so common here. ? I knew a young woman who got scabies and went through the same thing, it took several doctor visits to get it correctly diagnosed. Even with prescription medicine and doing what the doctor told her to, it took months for her to get rid of them.

I'm with Pretty Paisley, wish I didn't ever have to leave my house. :awh:


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## Wendy (May 10, 2002)

You know, my daughter had it last year. Caught it from a friend. It really wasn't that big of a deal. Doctor knew right away what it was & how to treat it. She had to shower, apply a cream from the neck down over her entire body, shower it off the next morning. I washed all of her bed sheets & clothes. She repeated the cream 2 weeks later. There are 7 other people in the house & my youngest son ended up with it too. Treated him & all is now well. I have several tubes of the cream on hand now because I got the re-fills just in case. It really wasn't any worse than the time my daughter came home from school with lice. She was the only one that ever had it. Yes, it was a pain to treat, but everyone else didn't get infected.


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## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

I've had them twice, got them first when I was working in a jail and then again at a VA hospital. The itching is miserable, but they won't kill you or make you sick. Not a big disease to fear. Many, many people in 3rd world countries have them chronically. And in the US in poor areas and where people are crammed together like jails. They are quite common in hospitals. 

They are only hard to diagnose for healthcare workers who don't see them often. And in people who bathe daily they look different than in a homeless person who will have a more traditional infestation. For instance, they are rarely on hands anymore as we all wash our hands so much. Much more common on the beltline now. 

But I do like the idea of having something on hand to treat them


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## terri9630 (Mar 12, 2012)

When my daughter got it, at the Dr's office, we had to apply the cream daily. It took months to get rid of.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

From what I read, scabies are resistant to some of the traditional treatments. One lady on the message board I read said she'd had it for 5 years. The doctors told her she had all kind of other diseases, like herpes, and even when they decided it was scabies the medicine she got didn't kill it. Several others said they'd be taking repeated courses of the lower dose ivermectin for humans and it didn't kill them.

It might not be dangerous, but I would hate the insane itching. And if you've ever clawed a mosquito bite or poison ivy until you bled or it got infected, you can see that a secondary infection could be very serious in a HTF situation.


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## DryHeat (Nov 11, 2010)

Quick check at All Day Chemist, ivermectin (=Stromectol) in dosage designed for humans is available ( http://www.alldaychemist.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=Ivermectin ), at modest cost especially if you use them for anything else to cover the flat $25 S&H already. According to WebMD, it's considered an "off-label" usage for scabies ( http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/ivermectin-for-scabies ) and sometimes used in combination with topical permethrin, also sold by ADC as a cream for $2 a tube. The permethrin is generally considered the first thing to try, actually.

Back some 20 years ago, DW was working as a home care nurse and picked up an infection from a client, so of course we both wound up with it. Went to a university clinic and were prescribed the then-current treatment, I think a (topical) malathion solution. After an application and waiting a week, we seemed to still have them (it? whatever) and went back. Attending MD got all excited and called several colleagues in after getting our OK and told us we were the first they'd seen of a resistant strain of bug that was known to be spreading in South America. I think they shifted to permethrin or an earlier version of it and that did knock it out. I recall having an itchy dermatitis rash for quite a time after, also.


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## Wendy (May 10, 2002)

Permethrin is what our doctor prescribed. It was over $100 for a tube of it. :shocked:


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

The Rx permethrin is 1%, and a whole pint of horse permethrin 10% is $13 on Amazon (certainly cheaper at TSC but I haven't gone yet). Cut it with water and spray it on, or add it to lotion and apply. One of the websites I read said it takes 2% or more strength to kill them.


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## JMx4 (Jul 9, 2009)

I caught it from the animal hospital where I work. I won't even go in the exam room with it. I swear it jumps onto me. I used injectable cattle ivermectin for it. Applied it topically to all affected areas. One treatment did it for me.


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## terri9630 (Mar 12, 2012)

Nice to know current treatments. It's been 18yrs since daughter got it.


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## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

1% permethrin is for lice, 5% for scabies. 

Thanks for the tip on horse permethrin, should be easy to dilute 50%. I'm going to go get some just in case I get it again. Since I work in healthcare it may be inevitable. I have a 5,000 deductible and my last 2 tubes were well over $100!


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## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

How do you catch this ? I'm assuming healthcare workers, anyone with small children and through intimate contact ? Toilet seats ??? Just wondering out loud how to prevent having to inject the family with horse wormer !!


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## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

PrettyPaisley said:


> How do you catch this ? I'm assuming healthcare workers, anyone with small children and through intimate contact ? Toilet seats ??? Just wondering out loud how to prevent having to inject the family with horse wormer !!


Skin to skin contact. Not everyone in a family will get it, some seem to be more susceptible than others. It doesn't like to live off the human host very long, 48 hours, maybe a little more in the winter. They are more prevalent in the winter. And they don't spread much if you bathe daily. They will itch even more in warm water, especially a hot tub!


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## nostawmama (Dec 29, 2011)

PrettyPaisley said:


> How do you catch this ? I'm assuming healthcare workers, anyone with small children and through intimate contact ? Toilet seats ??? Just wondering out loud how to prevent having to inject the family with horse wormer !!



I had it when I was in high school, school nurse diagnosed it right away, cream cured it quickly. Best guess is that I got it from trying on clothes at the store. Took me a very long time to be able to try on new clothes again.


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## Calico Katie (Sep 12, 2003)

I found the 10% permethrin on Amazon, a 32 oz. bottle for $25.80. The reviews are very interesting as a number of them are from people who used this to treat scabies. I'm much more comfortable using something topically in a lotion because I can test a small area of skin to see the reaction before using it extensively. This can also be used as a spray to help control/prevent infestation.
http://www.amazon.com/Durvet-Inc-Pe...d=1407469032&sr=8-1&keywords=horse+permethrin

Here is detailed information about what scabies is and how it is transmitted. It does say that people who are malnourished can get what is called "crusted scabies" which is extremely contagious. I suspect the children coming up from Central America are malnourished and that is the kind the border agents have gotten from the illegals they are dealing with. 
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/scabies/article_em.htm


Edited to add: I found a stronger permethrin solution available on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003IMO3I2/ref=pd_luc_sbs_02_04_t_lh?ie=UTF8&psc=1


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## terri9630 (Mar 12, 2012)

You can catch it from fabrics. Clothes, cloth seats and such. We got it at the Dr's office by sitting in cloth covered chairs after someone infected was there. Dr said it was a common way to catch lots of creepy crawlies like lice, fleas, crabs, etc.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

Vosey said:


> It doesn't like to live off the human host very long, 48 hours, maybe a little more in the winter.


Do you mean it dies off on its own in a few days? From what I read, people have had it for months and even years, with the problem getting worse and worse without treatment. Some people have been prescribed Xanax to deal with the itching and anxiety and lack of sleep.


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## terri9630 (Mar 12, 2012)

Mom_of_Four said:


> Do you mean it dies off on its own in a few days? From what I read, people have had it for months and even years, with the problem getting worse and worse without treatment. Some people have been prescribed Xanax to deal with the itching and anxiety and lack of sleep.


It doesn't die off if it has a host. They are kind of like fleas, or lice. They need a host to feed on.


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