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Scabies & lice

Scabies et pediculosis · Svrab a vši

What it is

Mites burrowing under the skin, or lice on the hair. Itch out of proportion to what you can see.

Symptoms & signs

  • Intense itch, worse at night
  • burrows between fingers and at wrists
  • rash
  • whole household affected
  • nits on hair shafts

🚩 Get help if…

  • see a doctor soon Thick crusted skin, especially in older or frail people
  • see a doctor soon Sores with pus, spreading redness or fever
  • see a doctor soon Itch still bad 4 weeks after two correct treatments
  • see a doctor soon Rash in a baby or in a care home with many itching people

Where it strikes

Medical treatment

  • Permethrin 5% cream to the whole body, repeated at a week
  • ivermectin orally for crusted or resistant cases
  • treat all contacts the same day
  • wash bedding hot

Natural & lifestyle

  • Treat everyone in the house at once
  • hot wash and 72-hour bagging of unwashables
  • wet combing for lice

Emerging & experimental

  • Moxidectin
  • new pediculicides for resistant lice

Alternative, off-label & anecdotal

Approaches used outside the guidelines, with what their supporters report and what testing has found so far.

  • Tea-tree oil — kills mites in the laboratory; small studies early / small studies
  • Treating only yourself — the household reinfects you; treat everyone at once anecdotal / traditional

ICD codes