Scabies infestation

[Tanya Shivari]

Scabies is a parasitic skin infestation caused by mites.

Scabies usually spreads from person to person through physical contact.
People with scabies have severe itching, even though there are typically few mites on the body.
Doctors diagnose scabies by examining the itchy areas and sometimes by looking at skin scrapings under a microscope.
Treatments of scabies include permethrin or lindane applied to the skin and ivermectin taken by mouth.

Parasites are organisms that live on or inside another organism (the host) and depend on the host for nutrition to live. The mites that cause scabies are parasites because they live by feeding on a person