Scabies is a skin disease that belongs to the parasitic group and is common. Quite often, pediatricians face it in their medical practice. Unfortunately, statistics show that the ailment arises not only in children of preschool or school age. Unpleasant symptoms in the form of a rash and itching torment even very small crumbs. For example, in some children, scabies is diagnosed before the age of 1 year. What kind of disease is this and how can it be dealt with?
Pathogen and route of infection
The disease in children causes the scabies mite Sarcoptes scabiel. This parasite is very small in size. Ticks cannot be seen with the naked eye. The dimensions of the female are somewhere between 0.25-0.35 millimeters. Males are slightly smaller. Their sizes are 0.15-0.2 mm. An important fact - scabies mites parasitize only in human skin. This means that sick people are always the source of infection.
The scabies mite can get on the body of a healthy child in several ways - by direct contact with a sick person and with indirect transmission. The first option, for example, is possible in cases where the parents are sick with scabies and touch the child. Direct contact infection also occurs from sick children. In an indirect way, the tick is transmitted through things, toys, school supplies, etc.
The clinical picture in newborns and infants
What does scabies look like in children? When answering this question, it is worth noting that the disease does not occur in all people in exactly the same way. Symptoms in infants and newborns are very different from manifestations in adults. In babies, itch rash occurs almost throughout the body. Its elements are sometimes even found on the scalp and face. Most often, rashes in young children are localized on the palms of the hands and soles (especially in the dorsum of the feet and on their inner arch). The rash is an edematous seropapule and vesicles.
Those people who do not know what scabies look like in children should take a closer look at places with rashes. Scabies are often visible on the skin. They appear due to the vital activity of parasites. Ticks on contact with the skin immediately begin to "dig" the stratum corneum. Scabies are whitish or grayish, slightly rising above the surface of the skin line. Their length can reach up to 1 cm. Females are in the blind ends of scabies. The presence of parasites is indicated by small black dots under the skin layer (these points are ticks).
Manifestations of scabies in older children
Symptoms in older children are similar to the manifestations of the disease in adults. One of the main symptoms is itching. He is most painful at night. Strengthening or reducing itching is determined by the daily rhythm of tick activity. During the day, the female does not become active, remains at rest. In the evening, she begins to gnaw the grooves in the scabies to lay eggs. At night, the female is already "digging" the course in a straight line. In this process, the tick feeds. In the afternoon, the parasite stops and again plunges into a dormant state.
Another symptom of scabies found in older children is a rash. Its typical localization is interdigital spaces, lateral surfaces of fingers, flexion surfaces of limbs, lateral surfaces of the trunk. Elements of the rash can also be observed in the lower abdomen, on the buttocks.
Course of the disease
Symptoms do not always occur immediately after a tick has come into contact with the skin. The duration of the incubation period of scabies in children is determined by the stage of development at which the parasites are located. In cases where females get on the skin, there is no incubation period per se. Parasites immediately begin to "dig" the moves, lay eggs. Because of this, itching occurs almost immediately in a person. When the baby becomes infected with larvae, the incubation period begins. In duration, it can be about 2 weeks.
Often the disease is complicated by the addition of a secondary purulent infection. Because of it, difficulties arise with the diagnosis of scabies. It is also worth noting the presence of a special form of this ailment - Norwegian. This scabies is a fairly rare species. It develops in patients with immunodeficiency, HIV infection. The disease is characterized by the appearance on the affected skin of thick dirty green crusts. With such symptoms in children, movements are limited, painful. Itching may be absent altogether or mild.
Diagnosis of scabies
Doctors do not make a diagnosis only by the detected signs of scabies in children. Studies are being conducted that can identify the causative agent of the disease - a tick. An obligatory diagnostic method is dermatoscopy. This is a non-invasive way to visually assess skin lesions.
Other diagnostic methods include:
- Scraping method. For the study, a drop of 40% lactic acid is applied to the affected area (on the vesicle, scabies). After 5 minutes, skin particles are scraped off with a scalpel, transferred to a glass slide and the material is examined under a microscope.
- Staining method. This method is used to verify scabies. For staining, an iodine alcohol solution, aniline dyes are used.
How to cure scabies in a child
With a diagnosed disease, treatment is prescribed for several purposes. They are:
- the destruction of parasites (both adult ticks and their larvae);
- elimination of all symptoms of the disease;
- preventing the attachment of a secondary infection to the combs and wounds on the body;
- preventing the infection of others.
Preparations for scabies for children are prescribed by the doctor, taking into account the age of the patients. If the baby is not 1 year old, then use "Spregal". This is an aerosol for external use. The drug is safe for the child when used correctly. For children aged 1 year to 3 years, pediatricians prescribe from scabies "Spregal", "Medifoks". The second drug is on sale in various forms - in the form of a gel, a concentrate for the preparation of an emulsion. At the age of 3 to 7 years, you can use a variety of preparations for scabies - 10% emulsion and benzyl benzoate ointment, Spregal, Medifoks, 5% sulfur ointment.
When hospitalization is required
In some cases, a child with scabies on the body may end up in hospital. There are certain indications for hospitalization. Firstly, those children who cannot be isolated from the team during the treatment period are sent to the hospital. A similar situation is observed in orphanages and boarding schools. Sick children are a danger to the healthy. That is why the above indication for hospitalization is established.
Another indication for referral to the hospital is scabies, complicated by secondary pyoderma (i.e., the introduction of pyogenic cocci). In this condition, deterioration of well-being, an increase in body temperature are possible. For the treatment of complicated scabies, doctors carry out special therapy, which ultimately eliminates infection and ticks.
Features of therapy for infection
Treatment of scabies in children complicated by secondary pyoderma consists of several stages. The patient goes through scabicide treatment. This tool contributes to the death of scabies mites. Rub the scabicide on the 1st and 4th day of treatment. On the 2nd and 3rd day, the associated infection is actively treated.
The drugs for treating the infection are chosen by the doctor depending on the type of pyoderma. With superficial pyoderma, external therapy is used. Pustules are treated with aniline dyes, a 10% solution of potassium permanganate. After drying, they switch to the use of ointments with antibiotics. With deep forms of pyoderma, systemic antibiotics are used in the treatment.
Norwegian scabies treatment
Therapy of a rare form of scabies (Norwegian) is carried out according to a special scheme. Any scabicide and some keratolytic drug (for example, 3-5% sulfur-salicylic ointment) are used for several days. The first tool is used in the evenings to treat the patient's body, and the second - in the morning. Such treatment is carried out until the disappearance of one of the signs of scabies in children - crusts. These elements on the skin exfoliate with proper therapy.
After the structures leave the surface of the skin, the use of scabicide continues. This tool is used somewhere 2 or 3 days in the evenings. Additionally it is allowed to use emollients and moisturizers. They help eliminate dry skin.
Folk remedies
In alternative medicine, there are many recipes for rash with scabies in children. Tools are made and used as follows:
- The crushed buckthorn bark (4 tbsp. L) is poured with boiling water (1 l). The mixture is heated on low heat for 10 minutes. Next, the tool is insisted for half an hour and filtered. This broth of buckthorn bark wipes the body 1-2 times a day.
- Berries and branches of juniper (100 g) are poured with a bucket of boiling water. A container with this mixture is put on fire and boiled for 15 minutes. The prepared mixture is used to wipe the body or to prepare a bath for bathing.
- Celandine grass is dried and ground. It is mixed with cream. The resulting product lubricates places affected by scabies.
If you want to use folk remedies for scabies in children, you do not need to refuse treatment and medications prescribed by doctors. Drugs are needed. Thanks to them, you can quickly save the child from the disease. Regarding the use of folk remedies, it is worth consulting with your doctor, because not all recipes are effective and safe. A specialist can recommend the use of some decoctions in combination with standard treatment.
Why treatment may end up being ineffective
No need to be afraid to use those drugs that the doctor prescribed for the treatment of scabies in children. They are not harmful, but help get rid of the parasite. Due to the fear of any side effects, people do not follow treatment regimens. As a result, therapy is ineffective for the following reasons:
- the use of drugs in low concentrations;
- non-compliance with the terms and frequency of treatment of affected areas;
- applying the drug to the body without taking into account the daily rhythm of the activity of the parasite;
- incomplete treatment of affected skin;
- the use of expired scabicides.
Prevention of scabies
It is quite difficult to prevent the disease, because its occurrence does not depend on the child himself. Scabies in children does not develop, for example, due to dirty hands, poor hygiene, or eating unwashed fruits. Medical workers play an important role in prevention, because they regularly conduct preventive examinations in children's groups - in preschool and educational institutions. Children with identified scabies are exempted from classes for the duration of a full treatment.
If the disease occurs in one of the family members, then parents should do everything possible to prevent the spread of parasites and infect children. Prevention consists of the following measures to be taken:
- to wash bedding, linen, things in an automatic washing machine at a temperature of 70–90 degrees or soak for 1 hour in a chlorine-containing solution;
- ironing clothes on both sides with a hot iron;
- those things that can neither be washed nor ironed, hung out on the street for 3 days;
- folded shoes, children's toys in airtight bags and excluded from use for several days;
- to process things with a special agent “A-steam” with anti-pediculose, anti-scratch, antiparasitic action.
Scabies in children is a simple disease to treat only when it is not complicated by anything. If there are suspicious symptoms in a child, scratching is recommended to consult a doctor. The sooner treatment is started, the faster it will be possible to get rid of the disease without the use of antibiotics.